The New Awakening
by jennypenny824
Summary: After the Final Battle, Hermione is turned into a vampire by one of Voldemort's followers. She moves to Forks, Washington in an effort to escape the scrutiny of witches and wizards as well as a possible enemy seeking revenge. There, she meets a group of vampires as well as a group of shape shifters. Will she find happiness, friendship, or maybe even love? During Eclipse, after DH.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer own Harry Potter and Twilight respectively.

In this story, Fred did not die because I love him and I said so. Also, I am allowing apparition on Hogwarts grounds but only in the prologue because it is necessary.

Prologue

Flashes of green and red lights were sent from one opponent to the other, some hitting their target, some missing theirs. Screams and curses were thrown as one after another fighters fell. Whether on the light side or the dark, it did not matter, because death had no bias.

Hermione Granger was battling death eaters, one after another, dodging curses and spells thrown her way while sending some of her own. She was in the courtyard of Hogwarts, where most of the fighting was happening, along with a majority of the others. While battling renowned death eater, Antonin Dolohov, Hermione's eyes roamed over the courtyard for her two best friends, Harry and Ron, in an effort to confirm her hope that they were safe. This, however, proved to be a bad decision when Dolohov casted an Expelliarmus on Hermione, ridding her of her wand and leaving her totally vulnerable. Hermione, completely in shock, hesitated in order to think of her next move. However, in that moment of hesitation, Dolohov was able to quickly grab the girl and apparate away into a remote area of the forbidden forest.

Hermione cowered away from the approaching figure of Dolohov before her back hit a tree. "Well, well, well." Antonin sneered. "Where is that supposed Gryffindor courage now?" In response, Hermione was only able to glare. Dolohov threw his head back in laughter before once again meeting his eyes with the Gryffindor's. "You know? You are quite the delicious creature," he said, "for a mudblood, of course. Maybe I can play with you before I kill you." Hermione flinched at the suggestiveness of his tone and shut her eyes tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she waited for what was to come. However, it never came. Opening one eye cautiously, Hermione looked around. She noticed Dolohov on the ground, recovering from what hit him.

"Come on Granger!" Turning around, Hermione stood face to face with a worried looking Draco Malfoy. She did not hesitate for a second and they both grabbed onto each other in order to apparate to the castle. However, before they could, she heard Dolohov yell,

"You will pay for this mudblood!"

When they both reached the castle, Hermione noticed that Voldemort and his death eaters were gone and in the courtyard, only the relieved faces of the light side remained. Everyone was sharing hugs and congratulatory words while some others were weeping on each other's shoulders over lost loved ones. Spotting Harry and Ron, both with smiles on their faces, she began to walk over with a smile also adorning her face. However, before she reached them two strong and cold arms wrapped themselves around her body and suddenly, a set of teeth dug themselves into her neck.

Hermione heard screams and shouts around her before she blacked out on the courtyard ground.


	2. A New Hermione

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer own Harry Potter and Twilight respectively.

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for all of the reviews, favorites, follows, and the general support shown for my first ever fan fiction story! I will try to update as frequent as possible.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

There was a pungent smell of antiseptic agent in the air, mingling with the scents of multiple people and their sweat. The excruciating pain that Hermione had been experiencing only seconds ago was gradually dissipating into nothingness as her senses were quickly becoming sharper. The sound of a pin dropping in the corner of the room, the scent of every person and object, the warmth radiating from a body beside her were all clear as day to her newly acquired acute senses.

Hermione laid there, unaware of what to make of all of these feelings, noises, and smells as she had yet to open her eyes. To say she was scared to do so would be an understatement. She was absolutely frightened. _What happened, _Hermione questioned to herself. _Where am I?_ Suddenly, it hit her with the impact of wave crashing on a shore. She was bitten… by a vampire.

Coming out of her thoughts, Hermione was able to hear whispered voices that were the equivalent to normal speaking in her vampire ears. "When is she going to wake up?" A male, who sounded very much like Harry, voiced in a frustrated tone. "It has already been a week!" _A week? _Hermione thought, _But the transformation into a vampire usually lasts around three to four days._

"I am aware of that, Mr. Potter." A second, more feminine voice stated. "However, there has been only one other case of vampirism in a witch or wizard and it was recorded that said wizard had been in his transition stage for a week. Therefore, if the times do not vary depending on other factors, then Ms. Granger will most likely be waking up soon." _Madame Pomphrey, _Hermione thought to herself. _I must be in the Hospital Wing._ To her right, someone sighed, tickling the perfectly placed hairs on her arm. Hermione, who had been contemplating whether she should open her eyes or not, decided on the former and did so, quickly, looking around as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.

Harry, who had been the one to her right, gasped audibly, gaining the attention of Madame Pomphrey, Professor McGonagall, the Weasleys, Kingsley, and Draco Malfoy who were all also in the room. Hermione briskly sat up, which was a blur to the others, and stared back at their gawking forms. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you all alright?" A melodious voice sounded in the echoing room. This voice shocked Hermione as well as everyone else. The voice sounded nothing like Hermione although the words were in fact spoken from her lips. Hermione, who remained to shocked to speak, briskly ran to the mirror of the bathroom that was placed in the infirmary. The reflection that stared back was not Hermione. This girl, no, _woman_, that stared back had crimson red eyes that held the pain of a war hero. The thin and pale face contained the most perfect of facial features, her entire face completely symmetrical. Her once very skinny and frail looking body had filled out in all of the right places, creating a very distinct hourglass figure. She had grown a few inches, leaving her at a height of 5'7. She was still skinny, but looked so in a healthier way than before. The scars on her face were gone and by lifting her shirt and sleeves, she noticed that all of the others have disappeared as well. However, what surprised her the most was her hair. Her once bushy and frizzy brown hair had loosened into perfectly placed ringlets of chocolate with a few strands adorning light brown and golden streaks. "Holy cricket," Hermione whispered to herself while walking back into the Hospital Wing in a daze. Ron, who had been the first to awaken from his stupor, voiced what was going through everyone's mind at the moment.

"Bloody hell."

At this, everyone began speaking all at once. "Hermione, are you alright? How do you feel?"

"Oh my god! We were so worried!"

"Whoa, you look… whoa."

Hermione, feeling quite overwhelmed, decided to end the chatter. "Who did this to me?" At this, everyone silenced, trying to avoid eye contact. After a few more seconds, Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Malfoy, who had been standing in the back only observing the entire ordeal, rolled his eyes and came forward. "It was a vampire named Rulf Azor." He explained. "After he bit you we body binded and interrogated him. Don't worry for he is currently in Azkaban. Apparently, he found Dolohov in the woods where we left him and was sent by him to turn you. Why Dolohov wanted to turn you though is beyond me but I have a suspicion that it has to do with what he said before we apparated away."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, thinking about the information just given to her. Suddenly, Harry stood to ask the question that was plaguing him. "What do you mean he was in the woods 'where you left him'?" He inquired, placing air quotes around Malfoy's words. "Also, what did he say before you both apparated?"

"Well, while we were fighting, Dolohov took my wand and apparated us to the Forbidden Forest where he," At this part, Hermione paused, not wanting to continue the story. However, the reassuring look given to her by Malfoy led her to continue. "He wanted to do… things to me before killing me." Hermione looked around the room after saying this, gauging everyone's reactions. The faces of everyone in the room were livid. Even Draco Malfoy had a look of disgust etched in his features. However, they made no move to interrupt so Hermione continued her tale. "However, Malfoy was able to save me and we both were about to apparate when Dolohov said that I would pay for this. So now I am here as a vampire, turned by one who was working for the death eater who is out for my head. How _wonderful_."

"Wait, wait, wait. You mean to tell me that the _ferret_ was the one to save you?" Ron inquired incredulously.

"Yes, Ronald," Hermione spat, causing Ron to flinch at the use of his full name, "he _did_ save me." It was then that the full meaning of her words hit her. Draco Malfoy, the most pompous git of all pompous gits, was the one to save her. Even though their ridiculing and bullying of each other has faded over the past year, allowing them to be somewhat civil with one another, his actions still shocked her. Hermione turned to Malfoy. "Why _did_ you save me?" Hermione asked.

"Well I couldn't just leave you in the hands of some grotesque death eater who would most likely feed you the worst death imaginable now, could I? Why would I ever let him get what he wants?" Malfoy sneered while trying to seem nonchalant. However, Hermione was able to see through his cool façade. Those words were his way of saying, _I care about you. I don't want you to die._ Hermione smiled at this and walked over to Malfoy with the grace of a ballerina and hugged him, shocking everyone in the room.

"Thank you, Draco." Hermione said graciously. She felt his tense form relax in her arms as he chuckled.

"You're welcome." He replied. "Now as surprisingly comfortable your hug may be Granger, if you do not let me go soon, I may have some broken ribs." Hermione gasped and quickly let go of Draco, muttering apologies.

"Oh that's right! You are a vampire!" Madame Pomphrey exclaimed, reprimanding herself for having forgotten all about it. She sat Hermione down on the bed and began doing her regular checkup. After a few minutes of this, Madame Pomphrey paused and looked at Hermione questioningly. "Ms. Granger, are you not thirsty?" Hermione wondered what she was talking about before realization dawned on her. She was a newborn vampire, a newborn who should be ravenous for blood. One who should be tearing through walls of the infirmary, sucking the life from any being with a beating heart. However, she was not. Why wasn't she? Then, she felt it. It was as if a small flame were being held in her throat, dry but bearable. This was hardly what a newborn's thirst should feel like. Every single book Hermione had ever read on vampires had stated that the thirst of a newborn should feel as though a large flame were engulfing their throat. It should feel as though it were consuming the entirety of the vampire. The only way to terminate the feeling would be to feed. This was not right.

Hermione explained her predicament to Madame Pomphrey and the rest of the group who listened curiously. "Well, Ms. Granger." McGonagall said. "I believe this may be your special ability." Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You see, some vampires find that they have a certain ability after they have turned. This may be a characteristic that the vampire had as a human that had been magnified when he or she turned. Seeing as you can control your bloodlust so easily, your power may have been deprived from the self-control you had possessed as a human. Perhaps you can also control the bloodlust of other vampires as well. However, now is not the time to dwell on such things. We must find out what our plan for the future is going to be."

"You are right, Minerva." Kingsley stated. "Hermione, I am going to suggest something that may not be in your favor but I do believe that this will be for the best." Hermione nodded in response, wondering what he might suggest. "I think you should move to the States for a while." At this, there were shouts of protest coming from all over but the arguing quickly ended as Kingsley raised his hand for silence. "Let me explain. Hermione, since you are now a war hero, you will most likely garner much publicity and every single one of your movements will be scrutinized through the public's eyes. Also, we cannot ignore the fact that vampires are a minority that is highly prejudiced against in the wizarding world, meaning you will gather much negative attention and hate. Along with this, Dolohov is out to get you. Moving to the small town I have in mind would ensure that you have the best chance of staying out of Dolohov's sight which in turn would keep you safe." Hermione contemplated her choices and was quick to realize that what Kingsley had suggested would be the best option.

"Where do you have in mind?" Hermione questioned. Once again, protests were almost instantaneous. Left and right, her friends were begging for her to stay. "As Kingsley said, it is for the best. Now please continue." Hermione urged Shacklebolt as the complaints and begging died down. "Where will I be going?"

"While you were still in transition, I took the liberty of finding the place that would best suit your needs. I concluded on a small town in the States. There is little sunshine and also a large expanse of woods and forest which would provide you some seclusion and allow for hunting." Kingsley explained. "You will be going to Forks, Washington."


	3. A Move to Forks

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer own Harry Potter and Twilight respectively

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the favorites, follows and reviews! Seeing as I am currently on summer vacation, I am able to update very frequently. However, school is just around the corner *sigh* so my updates may be less frequent. Also, I am one who usually tends to write with no plan whatsoever in mind, therefore, I can be very indecisive when it comes to how to continue a story. If any of you have suggestions or wish for this or that to happen, I am all ears and your suggestions are always taken under consideration.

**Chapter 2**

Hermione sighed as she buckled her seatbelt for the descent, ignoring the appreciative looks from men and jealous glares of women around her. She had first wanted to apparate to her new home, having realized that she was still fully capable of magic even after her transition, however, Kingsley believed that it would be best to go the muggle way so that she could get used to reducing the amount of magic she used. Since she was moving to a muggle community, he did not want Hermione to rely so heavily on magic and especially apparition. It had been approximately two weeks since her turning into a vampire and those two weeks were spent in preparation for this moment. During those 15 days, 7 hours, and 21 minutes before her boarding of the plane (she had counted), she had only once left the sanctuary that was Grimmauld Place and that one visit to Diagon Ally made sure she never made the mistake to leave again. It also led her to actually look forward to leaving somewhat, but the feeling quickly passed. Now, she was only filled with dread.

After her turning into a vampire, everyone made sure to comply to her every wish as well as make sure she never left 12 Grimmauld Place, "for fear that there would be trouble," they said. However, Hermione knew the real reason. The day after her transition, she had been asked if she wished to find her parents and return their memory. If she weren't a vampire, Hermione would have readily agreed, but she _was_ a vampire so she wished to leave her parents as they were. She did not wish to bestow the weight of knowing that their own daughter was in a war as well as turned into a vampire on their shoulders. Therefore, Hermione never saw her parents and since that day, all of those around her were feeling pity for her. So in her own form of "rebellion", as she called it, which was really her way of distracting herself from the pain, she snuck out, which wasn't all too hard for a vampire such as herself. With her face hidden from view by the hood of her cloak, she visited a very small bookstore at the far end of Diagon Ally which was barely occupied, just to be on the safe side, and it was books galore for her! However, it wasn't until she visited Honeydukes, after realizing that she had run out of blood pops, when trouble arose. Within seconds of entering the shop, a child began pulling on her cloak, causing Hermione to be exposed. The adults around her were mortified to see that Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age, had become a vampire. Some ran, others yelled profanities at her, telling her to get away from their children, and others only glared. It was because of this incident that she never left Grimmauld again in those two weeks.

Hermione gave another sigh before reaching for a blood pop in her purse and sticking it in her mouth. With her amazing control over her bloodlust, she found that she was able to survive off of blood pops alone and found no need to hunt. After the war, Hermione was against killing or even injuring another being. Therefore, after much experimentation, Hermione found that if she were to minimize her bloodlust to her fullest extent, having only blood pops to sustain her was enough. However, this new diet led Hermione to have eyes of the color blue, differing from the eyes of other vampires which were usually red or golden depending on their diet. Hermione guessed that this was because of the blood pops being made of dragons' blood, which was usually of the color blue. Nonetheless, she wasn't complaining much as she found that blue suited really her and also, she could never give up the delicious flavor of dragons' blood. It tasted of sweet caramel. Furthermore, her power had proven to be quite the miraculous life saver (literally) and because of her compromising diet and her special ability, Kingsley knew that Hermione could be trusted in Forks alone despite her being a new vampire. Also, being the legal age of 18, no one would question the absence of her guardians.

After landing at the airport in Seattle, Hermione had taken a taxi to the nearest car dealership, paying with the roll of American cash that she did not bother counting out, knowing it was much more than needed. Knowing nothing about cars, Hermione simply pointed at the nicest looking one, which was a grey Bentley Mulsanne according to the salesperson. When Hermione stated that she wished to buy it, the seller, who had been so obviously looking at her body, stared at her incredulously, telling her that it was a pretty expensive car and asking if she was sure that she could afford it, most likely because of how young she looked. Nonchalantly, Hermione took out her golden Gringotts card which allowed for wizarding money in Gringotts to be used in the muggle world. "There should be more than enough on this card. Now I believe it is your job to sell me this car, not question me." Hermione said calmly, however, there was a demanding and powerful tone in her voice, causing the salesperson to become quite flustered and quickly leave for the paperwork. Hermione, being a well renowned war hero as well as best friend of Harry Potter, one-third of the infamous Golden Trio, was given galleons upon galleons from the vaults of death eaters who were either dead or in Azkaban. She was also the recipient of thank you money from witches and wizards from all corners of the world along with the riches from wills of her dead friends. At that moment, the man had come back with the paperwork and handed it to her, seeming rather frightened. Hermione sighed; she was doing that a lot today. _This is going to be a long day,_ she thought.

Hermione drove down a long, road-like driveway surrounded by a large expanse of well-kept grass and woods beyond it, glad to be out of the curious stares of the town's people. The road led to a beautiful, modern home of two floors and a basement. The front and back walls of the house were entirely glass, covered by laced curtains, while the sides were of white and cream colored stone. After looking at the limited choice of housing in the small town of Forks, Kingsley and Hermione both decided that this house would be most fitting because it was the most secluded with the forest surrounding the area and it was also furnished.

She stepped out onto the gravel driveway and walked up to the large white door that led into the dwelling. Hermione hesitated slightly before flinging the door open and appreciating the beautiful home. Upon entering, Hermione was met with a very large and spacious living room. A fire place was situated on the right side of the room and a TV was placed above it, two white couches sitting in front of the fire place, a coffee table between them. On the far left side of the room stood a black grand piano, a gift from Professor McGonagall. Through the glass wall that was on the opposite side of the room to where she was standing, Hermione could see that a door led out to an also furnished patio and a pool. To her left was a wide hallway which she promptly went through. Hermione entered each door, one being a closet, another a half bathroom, and the last a stairwell which she presumed led to the basement. She entered the basement to see that Kingsley had already apparated over and prepared her potions supplies. To her right were shelves upon shelves of ingredients while to her left stood six cauldrons. The place sort of reminded Hermione of Snape's classroom, just without the darkness and cold, dungeon-like feeling. At this Hermione sighed, _Professor Snape. Dead Professor Snape. _Hermione remembered how Harry had told both her and Ron about their seemingly heartless former professor's life. If she was still capable of tears, Hermione probably would have sobbed at the tragic story that was Professor Snape's life.

After climbing back up to the first floor and reaching the end of the hallway, Hermione was met with a beautifully modern kitchen with white marble countertops, mahogany cabinets and drawers, and a steel refrigerator. To the left was a grand staircase which led to the second floor. Upon reaching the top, Hermione noticed that there was another sitting room complete with a TV and a couch. To her right was a hallway which contained one half bathroom and two large guest bedrooms, each with their own full bathroom and closet. Upon reaching the largest master bedroom, which would be her own, Hermione gasped. The room was fully carpeted with a bright white carpet and on the other side of the room stood a large, round bed with completely white sheets. Across from the bed was a white desk with a large desktop and rather unnecessary muggle items and a vanity next to it. To her left were two doors. One containing a ginormous walk in closet filled with muggle clothes already bought for her by Kingsley, and the other containing possibly the most dazzling bathroom she had ever seen, complete with a shower, Jacuzzi bathtub, and a sink. On the other side of the room was a sliding glass door leading to a balcony filled with muggle and wizarding plants alike. _How very…white_, Hermione thought while looking at her room before raising a brow at the irony of it all. Here she was, a war veteran with the blood of her victims on her hands as possibly one of the most gruesome of all magical creatures, in the most pure and spotless looking room imaginable. It was as if the pureness of the room was mocking her, saying, _we are absolutely clean while you are dirty. Dirty with the blood on your hands._ Hermione contemplated whether she should change the room or not but soon decided against it.

After about an hour of searching through every nook and cranny of the house as well as marveling at every nook and cranny, Hermione began setting up wards around her house which kept other magical beings out as well as warn her if the being was a threat. She also set up the floo network in her fireplace before taking out her newly acquired cellphone that Harry had bought her before calling said man. Before leaving, she had promised to call as soon as she was situated and Hermione knew that if she did not keep her promise, Harry and the entire Weasley clan would most likely think she was dead. After about two rings, a loud voice she recognized to be Ron's picked up the phone. "Hermione!"

Hermione laughed at his excitement. "Ron!" She mimicked in the same tone he had used.

"Hold on, let me put you on speeder phone."

"I think you mean _speaker_ phone, Ron." Hermione replied in her know-it-all tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Ron answered. Soon, various voices came shouting through the phone and Hermione had to move her ear in order to not be deafened by the noise, especially with her new vampire hearing.

"Oh be quiet all of you!" Molly demanded, silencing the crew. "Now, how are you Hermione? Is everything alright over there? Have you eaten yet? Oh how silly of me. Of course you haven't!"

Hermione laughed. "Molly, I am fine. No need to worry, I am perfectly situated and am just calling you all to tell you so. Everything is alright, well, except for all of the stares but I guess you can't expect anything else in a small town like this."

"If they give you-"

"Any trouble,"

"They'll hear-"

"From us." The twins said.

"Oh Hermione, I miss you!" Ginny yelled. "Ron misses you too!" At this, everyone laughed and Ron, Hermione guessed, most likely blushed. If she were capable, Hermione would have been quite red as well. Although they kissed in the chamber during the final battle, they both agreed that waiting for the chaos of Dolohov and being a newborn vampire to subside before actually trying to date would be a good idea. "You _have _to let me visit sometime!"

"I will, I will." Hermione replied. "Now, what are you lot up to?"

Harry was the one to answer this time. "Oh, we were just about to head out to help with the repairs at Hogwarts, but I'm sure we can be a few minutes late to talk to you."

"Oh, stop it! Don't let me hold you up," Hermione stated. "I was just about to head out for a walk anyway."

"Oh well then, if you say so. Bye, Hermione!" Said Harry and with that, everyone else sang a chorus of goodbyes as well before the line went dead. Shaking her head, Hermione quickly changed into a black hoodie and paired it with a pair of light washed skinny jeans and white converse. Pocketing her phone and placing her wand in her hidden wrist holster, she headed out for a calm walk in the woods. However, Hermione would soon learn that this walk would be anything but calm.


	4. The First Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Harry Potter

**A/N: **I decided to make this story occur during Eclipse. I am sorry to those who wanted to see it during Breaking Dawn. Also, this is not an Edward and Hermione fic no matter how much the first paragraph makes it seem so.

**Chapter 3**

Hermione had been walking in the woods surrounding her house for who knows how long. She had not particularly been paying attention to how long she was walking for or where she was going exactly but she did not have to worry about either of those things. Being a vampire, she had all the time in the world to do anything she pleased and if she was lost, she wasn't really lost; vampire senses and speed dealt with that. Not to mention she was a magical witch capable of apparating. Hermione had just decided to turn back when a two story house came into view. Inside the windows was a kitchen where a girl, seeming around Hermione's age, was washing dishes. However, this was not what caught her attention. Hermione had been observing because the boy next to the girl had peaked her interest. He had pale skin, similar to Hermione's, brownish-bronze hair that had been tousled messily, and a tall and skinny, yet muscular, body. Hermione recognized him for what he was exactly. _Vampire_, she thought. It was then that she came to realize that the vampire was alone with a human girl. At this, Hermione began to panic. Had she entered right at the moment of the vampire's feeding? After seeing so much death from the war, Hermione did not know if she could handle anymore unless the victim were to be completely deserving of it. This innocent seeming girl definitely was not. She began contemplating whether she should save the girl or not when the vampire and girl leaned in towards each other and kissed. Hermione stood confused. _What is going on? A vampire could not possibly be in a relationship with a human. Perhaps he is luring her in,_ Hermione thought, however, her thoughts disappeared when the vampire turned slightly towards her; not enough for him to see her, but enough for Hermione to see him, or more like see his eyes. They were yellow. _Animal drinker, _Hermione thought to herself as she breathed an imaginary sigh of relief. After the reassurance that the girl was safe, Hermione stood and watched the obvious love that was displayed in front of her with slight adoration and a smile on her face.

Hermione did not know how long she had been watching them for but soon she began to feel a bit like a stalker. She took this as a sign to leave and turned back to go home but a sound to her left stopped her in her tracks. A normal human would have been unable to hear such a sound but Hermione was no normal human. It sounded like a low growl. Hermione questioned what the sound could have been but quickly received her answer when the putrid smell of a wet dog hit her nostrils. _Werewolf,_ Hermione exclaimed to herself. Hermione noticed that the noise sounded quite far away. Hermione decided that the wolf had not seen her yet and without a second thought, Hermione turned on the spot, arriving at the kitchen of her home.

* * *

"Sam!" Seth exclaimed as he bolted into the former man's home with a panicked expression on his face. The entire pack, who had just sat down for lunch, looked up in surprise and stared at Seth.

"What's wrong Seth?" Sam inquired in his booming alpha voice. Everyone looked on worriedly as Seth began jumping from one leg to another subtly and biting his lip, something he only did when he was nervous.

"Well, um, you see, I, um," Seth stuttered before an annoyed looking Leah rolled her eyes and yelled at him to spit it out. "I smelled someone during my patrol." Everyone stiffened and all stared at the still nervous looking Seth before turning to Jacob. Jacob was fuming and it seemed as though steam might come out of his ears soon. Jacob then suddenly stood up and was about to run out the door when Sam placed a hand on his shoulder,

"Calm down Jacob. Now tell us what happened Seth."

"Well," the youngest wolf began, "I was circling Bella's house while on patrol when I caught this scent. It was weird. The smell was sweet but not as sweet as the vampires. It was one of the most amazing scents I have ever smelled! It smelled like-," Seth paused in thought before a large grin spread across his face. "It smelled like happiness and sunshine!" At this, everyone in the room shared a look that clearly said that they thought the boy was going mad but they let him continue. "Anyways, I followed the scent to see who the person was but there was no one there! The place where the scent is strongest doesn't lead anywhere! It's as if the person just disappeared on the spot."

"That's not possible Seth. No one can just disappear on the spot." Quil stated.

"You think I don't know that, genius?" Seth answered. "Come with me and you'll see. The trail just ends at the-." Seth was cut off mid-sentence by the sound of thunder. The pack quickly ran to the window to see rain dropping down in large sheets.

"Well it looks like that won't be possible anymore." Sam said. "By the time we get to Bella's house, the scent would have already washed away. We should head to the Cullen house and tell them what happened." The group nodded and they all filed out of Sam and Emily's house, shifting when they reached the woods.

* * *

Silence ensued after Seth finished retelling his story to the Cullens and Bella who had also come when Edward was called. "Wait," Alice began, "that's impossible. I would have been able to see this before it happened." Everyone considered this before Edward interrupted.

"But Seth was involved and you can't see shape shifters."

Alice shook her head, "I know that but Seth never actually met the person so I would have been able to see him or her approaching Bella's house at least." The entire group nodded, agreeing with Alice.

Suddenly, Edward stood up straighter and furrowed his brows. Jasper looked at him curiously, being able to feel the confusion rolling off of the former. "If the person was as near as Seth said, then I would have been able to hear their thoughts." Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. This person was immune to Edward's mind reading, a feat that has only occurred once before.

"You couldn't read their mind? This person is like me?" Bella inquired incredulously, eyebrows furrowing even more than Edward's. Carlisle answered her rhetorical questions.

"Edward couldn't read the person's mind but he or she is not like you Bella. You have proven that you are capable of resisting Edward's, Jane's, and Aro's power and you may be capable of resisting others' but Alice can still see your future."

"Anyways, what are we going to do? We don't even know who this person is and what they are capable of. The person is obviously not a vampire if their scent is nice to Seth but we still don't know if this person is working with Victoria. She can be collecting more than just newborns for all we know." Sam stated. He and the pack had been listening to the conversation and their worry had accumulated after hearing that the new person was able to resist the vampires' powers.

"There is not much we can do now." Carlisle explained. "If Seth happens to catch the scent again, he should find the owner and try to see what they look like. For now, we should take the extra precaution and provide more protection for Bella." Leah and Rosalie both audibly groaned at this, earning glares from Edward and Jacob. Carlisle ignored this and went on. "We don't know what we are up against so we should all be careful." Everyone nodded in agreement at this.

"Okay. We should go and check on the elders." Sam stated in conclusion. With a nod from him to Carlisle, the pack ran back to the woods, shifting as they went along.

* * *

Hermione began pacing across the living room while biting her thumb, creating bite marks that instantaneously healed. "What to do. What to do." Hermione thought about what had happened earlier that day. The growl had definitely come from a werewolf or some type of wolf shape shifter. Their disgusting smell had proven it. The wolf had most likely caught her scent by now and might chase after her. The two were natural enemies after all. _Had the wolf been chasing after the vampire that was with the girl today_, Hermione questioned to herself. Hermione began thinking that she should become a recluse and never leave her home so that the wolf wouldn't be able to catch her scent and come to her. It was one thing to have a deranged and obsessed death eater after you; it was another to have a deranged and obsessed death eater _and_ your natural enemy after you. Suddenly, Hermione stopped pacing and took her thumb away from her teeth. "Of course! How could I have been such an idiot!" Hermione flicked her wand out of her holster and casted a charm on herself. "Smell eraser. How perfect." It was at times like this where Hermione thanked the wizarding world for having so many spells, including this one. The spell that Hermione had just casted had erased her scent so she currently smelled like nothing. Of course the spell had to be casted every week to have the scent remain erased but Hermione could live with that. After all, this spell would allow her to go outside and live her life, starting with her muggle high school life. Hermione was to attend her senior year in Forks High School and now she could spend it free of the presence of wolves. She began school tomorrow and bookworm Hermione could not be more excited but, unfortunately, war hero Hermione was quite the opposite. She was fighting a battle within herself, the bookworm believing that muggle school would be an amazing experience while the other believing it would only consist of nosy and incompetent people. But both Hermiones agreed that she couldn't wait to learn.

* * *

_Hermione awoke to the sound of birds chirping, the sun shining across her face, and her alarm clock radio spouting out the song, "Walking on Sunshine"_. Hermione chuckled as she imagined it all play out in her head. In reality, she was sitting on the couch of the living room, textbook in one hand and blood pop in the other. As a young girl, she had always found it amusing how some teenage movies began with the main character awoke to the perfect morning with upbeat background music playing as she got ready for the day. Hermione had never experienced that of course, war tended to disregard one's wishes of awakening to a sunny day and "Walking on Sunshine" playing in the back, but that doesn't mean she could not imagine it all happening in her mind. Her entire night had consisted of reading all of her textbooks thrice and it was safe to say that she probably knew more about the subjects than most of the grade. That was one of the upsides of being a vampire, no sleep. Usually, most vampires would say that they missed sleeping but Hermione was the opposite. She did not want to close her eyes for more than a second for fear of seeing memories of the war, the deaths, Dolohov, and the worst, Greyback. Hermione was taken by one of the vilest people she had ever met and it disgusted her to no end. She shook the thought from her head and cursed herself for thinking about it before going back to her textbook.

Seeing that the time was seven, Hermione arose from her sitting position and went upstairs to her bathroom to take a shower. Upon finishing her shower and entering her room clad in shorts and a t shirt, Hermione casted a drying spell on her body and hair and entered her closet. She picked a plain, white shirt that hugged her curves nicely, a pair of maroon colored skinny jeans, and a black leather jacket to wear over the shirt. She decided to pair these with a pair of brown combat boots. Picking up her black backpack, she headed downstairs to the living room where she would wait until it was time to go. Hermione began to think about the day that awaited her. She had decided the night before that she would not participate as much as she had in Hogwarts for fear that she would attract much attention but she still wished to pay attention avidly. As she thought of this, she began dreading the day slightly more than before. In a small town like this, she was bound to draw attention from everyone, especially since she had come near the end of the year. With the help of Kingsley, she was able to create fake records of her schooling but Hermione now wondered if that was all a waste of time. She did not want to go back to the life she had lived before which consisted of the attention of the entire wizarding world. However, Hermione soon pushed the silly thought from her mind. _I have suffered through so much more. I can definitely handle a few stares_, she thought. _Gryffindor courage._ Hermione was brought out of her reverie when she heard a pecking at the window. Looking up, Hermione could see that it was Harry's new owl, Hardy, which he had bought after Hedwig's death. She noticed that the owl was carrying a very large bag and so she quickly opened the window and relieved him of the weight, handing him a treat in exchange. Hardy politely nipped her finger before flying away. Hermione looked at the writing on the bag and noticed it was a pack of blood pops, 1,500 to be exact. Although she did not need any more, she was still grateful and slipped the bag into her backpack which she had placed a charm upon. It was now 7:50 and time to leave so Hermione quickly shut of all of the lights with her wand, placing it in her arm holster before running into her car and going down the gravel driveway.

* * *

Hermione entered the school parking lot and parked beside a silver Volvo which, she noticed, was the only parking space left. She shut off the engine and looked outside at the people who were staring at her which just so happened to be everyone. With her tinted windows, those outside were unable to see anything inside and were anxiously waiting for the owner of the expensive car to exit. Hermione gathered the last bit of courage left within her and grabbed her bag before graciously exiting the car. Although they did not know it, Hermione was able to hear everyone's soft gasps and whispering. However, one boy's voice stood out over the others. "Whoa she's hotter than the Cullens." _Cullens?_ _Who are they? _Hermione asked herself. She began walking in her gracious manner and that made everyone even more shocked, if that were even possible. Hermione entered the building which did not even compare to Hogwarts and walked down the hall towards the main office, trying to ignore the stares and sometimes jealous glares.

Upon entering, Hermione noticed that there was only one secretary in the room so she approached her. "Hello, I am Hermione Granger. I am the new student here." The secretary looked up and her eyes widened, mouth widening also. She quickly collected herself and cleared her throat before saying,

"Ah yes. Here is your schedule and this is a piece of paper that I need your teachers to sign. You can just give it to me at the end of the day." With a nod, Hermione took the papers and left the office. She looked at her schedule and was getting ready to head to her first class when someone came up next to her.

"Hi! I'm Jessica! You must be new. What's your first class? I'll take you there." The girl named Jessica stated quite loudly. Hermione wasn't sure how to respond so she just handed Jessica her schedule and let her do the rest. "Oh you have English with Mrs. Smith. I feel bad for you; she can be a pain in the ass. I'll show you where her class is." With that, they both walked down the corridor and talked; well more like Jessica gossiped after Hermione introduced herself. Soon they reached the classroom and Jessica left, leaving Hermione to herself. Jessica reminded her of Lavender. She wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to take that.

So far, the day had been incredibly boring for Hermione. Nonetheless, she still paid much attention to the lessons. Throughout the day, some of the more brave people have been asking, or more like interrogating, Hermione about her life which she tried to avoid. Those who asked were blatantly ignored. Hermione was so annoyed that she did not care if she was being rude anymore. She sighed, just hoping that lunch would be better and with that, she entered the cafeteria.

* * *

"What's going on?" Bella asked the Cullens while looking around the room from the table. Everyone had been extra chatty and excited about some girl today.

"Apparently, there's a new girl. Her name's Hermione." Edward explained with his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"You're worried," Jasper said. He attempted to send calming waves towards Edward with his empathic abilities. "And confused, but mostly worried. Why?" All of the attention from the table was now on the mind reader.

"Well, by reading the thoughts of some of the people in the room, it seems as though this Hermione girl is better looking than us." Everyone gaped at Edward. Silence ensued before Alice quickly readjusted herself and stated,

"But that would only be possible if she was a vampire, right?" Suddenly, the entire cafeteria silenced. Everyone, including the Cullens and Bella, all turned to see a girl confidently walking in and heading towards Jessica Stanley who was beckoning her to her table. Her sitting down seemed to be the trigger and the talking all began at once. Bella and the Cullens still remained still. Suddenly, Emmett spoke the words that were on each of the eight peoples' minds.

"Holy shit."


	5. The Plan

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter of Twilight.

**A/N: **I don't think I am going to have Bella bashing in my fan fiction but I am still unsure so you never know. I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. I have been so busy (I hate school with a burning passion). I had some writer's block with this one so it may not be that good. Sorry in advance to those who are disappointed with it. Also, I know I should get on with the pairing that I have planned for Hermione but I am still kind of unsure about it so…. Maybe it will be in the next chapter, maybe not.

**Chapter 4**

"Carlisle!" Rosalie yelled uncharacteristically at the top of her lungs as the six teenagers, including Bella, walked into the home. Everyone winced at the high pitched scream just as Carlisle and Esme gracefully walked down the staircase.

"I can hear you from meters away, Rosalie. It is unnecessary to yell so loudly." Carlisle reprimanded slightly. "Now what is it?" He looked from one of his children to the other as they all seemed to be wondering how to begin.

"Well you see," Edward began, "there is a new girl in town." Before he could continue, Carlisle interrupted with a nod.

"Ah yes, I have heard. She had just moved into that newly built home near ours, according to the hospital secretaries. Now I still don't see why this is so important." Edward hesitated. He did not know what to say. At this moment, Bella blurted out,

"She's a vampire!" Everyone, except for Edward, turned to look at her with annoyed expressions before turning back to Carlisle.

"But Carlisle," Alice said, "she was different from other vampires." Carlisle looked Alice with one eyebrow perfectly arched before opening his mouth to speak.

"She was different in what way?"

"Well, she had blue eyes." Alice replied. "She also didn't smell like anything. Usually, even vampires would have a scent but she doesn't. She smells like absolutely nothing." Carlisle furrowed his eyebrows even more than before at this.

"Also, when she passed by our table during lunch, I could hear a slight throbbing or beating noise coming from her body." Jasper added. Hearing this, everyone looked at him incredulously as the teenagers had not noticed this before.

"What? Are you sure?" Carlisle inquired.

Edward was the one to respond as he had just seen the memory that had been running through Jasper's mind. "It's true."

"Wait one minute," Carlisle said, "if you heard a beating from her body, why would you still think she is a vampire?" The five younger Cullens glanced at one another before Rosalie replied,

"She _looked_ like us, Carlisle." Carlisle paused for a moment before nodding in understanding.

"I have heard from some male coworkers who have seen her around town that she was quite good looking." At this, Emmet scoffed loudly.

"Oh please. That is the largest understatement of the century. She was HOT. At this, Rosalie slapped Emmett in the back of the head, causing the teenagers to laugh.

"Anyways," Carlisle continued sternly which caused everyone to silence, "it is obvious that this girl is not like any vampire we have ever seen before. We do not even know if she really is a vampire! She could just be a very good looking human for all we know. Therefore, I need you all to do a little investigating. See her habits, where she goes, what she does."

Esme, who had been silent for most of the time, decided to speak up. "I think we should inform the pack about our new finding and try to incorporate them into our plan." Rosalie shriveled her nose up in disgust and was about to protest when Esme gave her a stern look which quieted her.

"Good idea." Carlisle replied before quickly retrieving his phone from his bedside table at vampire speed and dialing Sam's number.

* * *

"Wait, let me get this straight," Jacob said as he and the pack looked incredulously at the Cullens who were sitting across from them in the spacious living room, "there is a new girl in town whom you think is a vampire but you're not absolutely sure if she is one?"

"Exactly." Carlisle replied, his eyebrows still in the furrowed state that they were in before.

Everyone in the pack looked to Sam as he questioned, "And how would you not know if she was a vampire or not?" The Cullens then began to explain the girl's blue eyes, non-existent scent, and the mysterious thumping noise coming from her body yet her vampire-like good looks.

"Therefore, we would very much appreciate your assistance in finding out more about this person." Carlisle stated after their explanation.

"Why should we help you?" Leah questioned in an annoyed tone, "What does this have to do with us?" At this, Alice replied,

"We do not wish to force you into doing anything you do not want to do. We just want to see if this new girl is a threat or not and the more people helping, the better."

"Yeah, come on sis! Maybe this girl has something to do with that weird person at Bella's house." Seth said enthusiastically. Leah rolled her eyes at Seth's excitement but said nothing. Sam nodded and the Cullens took this as agreement.

"Alright, we will investigate during school and follow her after school to see if she is a threat," Edward stated, referring to the Cullen teenagers, "while everyone else keeps an eye out for her in town."

"Wait, then who is going to protect me from Victoria after school?" Bella asked. The Cullens all looked to Edward, expecting him to answer. Just as he was about to tell her that he would protect her, he was interrupted.

"I'll look after you while your little boyfriend is at school." Jacob said while smirking at Edward's angry expression. Edward, who was just about to yell at Jacob and his stupid idea (at least according to Edward), he was interrupted once again by Alice.

"I think that would be a good idea." She stated while looking warily at the incredulous looking Edward. "We would need you to read the girl's thoughts when we are near her. Don't worry, Edward, Jacob will keep Bella safe. Anyways, if Victoria decides to attack, I'll always see it and we'll be one step ahead." Edward knew he had been defeated and so he simply looked out towards the window, symbolizing his compliance to the idea.

"Alright then, it's settled. Jacob, you will be with Bella after school until Edward comes." Carlisle said. "As for the rest of the pack, I think you should patrol La Push consistently just in case the girl goes to your side. Even if she is a vampire, she does not know about the treaty and she has no scent to us so it may be the same for you, meaning that you would not be able to just simply sense her on your land."

Sam nodded, "Yes I think that's a good idea. We'll have the patrol schedule planned as soon as possible. Now, about the newborns, the killing sprees in Seattle have become more frequent and large so we're guessing that Victoria's army is growing. What should we do?"

Carlisle sighed in dismay, "Since Jasper has experience with newborns, I think he should train us to prepare ourselves for the confrontation that is sure to come."

"Yes. Fighting newborns is absolutely different from fighting normal vampires. They think differently, they're stronger, faster. You all need to learn how to take a newborn and a newborn army as well."

They all silently nodded to each other before the pack exited the home, phased, and ran off into the woods. Little did they know, the person that they had been talking about before had been lurking in the trees, listening into their conversation.

* * *

Hermione had been walking in the woods yet again but in the direction opposite of the home she last came upon for fear of meeting the werewolf. Of course it was just her luck that she happened to come upon a home with the same boy and girl from last time. However, it seemed as though they were with the boy's clan as there were the other four "teenagers" and the "parents" whom she now knew to be the Cullens, thanks to Jessica. Jessica thought it would be a good idea to tell the entire life stories of Bella and the Cullens but now she was glad that she knew more about them. She hated being ill-informed.

Hermione felt nothing but rage when she listened to the voices that were speaking in the home in front of her. They were talking about her! Even going as far as to say that they would spy on her in order to find out more about her! _Who do they think they are, _Hermione thought incredulously to herself. _How would they feel if people began to pry into their business?_ At that moment, the group had begun talking about the factors that made them question her vampirism such as her blue eyes, non-existent smell, and the mysterious thumping emitting from her body. The last one had surprised her in the first few weeks as a vampire. She had noticed this very quiet beating noise and had freaked out, thinking that it was her heart and that she was still alive. However, upon closer inspection, she felt a faint vibration every single time a thump occurred, the same vibration she felt whenever she used magic. That was when she realized that the thumping was in fact her magic beating within her body.

Hermione was awakened from her reverie when the mother of the group, Esme, suggested that they invite the "pack" into the plan. _Who is the pack?_ Hermione questioned. Her inquiry was soon answered when a few minutes after Carlisle's phone call, a large pack of wolves reaching the size of horses burst into the driveway of the home. _Werewolves! There are more than one, _Hermione cursed to herself as she began to back away silently, however, something stopped her in her tracks. The eight wolves that had just been standing a few feet away from her were replaces with seven men and one woman, all equally naked. They all seemed unfazed by their nudeness and leisurely put on the clothes wrapped around their legs. Hermione knew that if she were capable, she would be as red as a tomato at that moment. They were all extremely good looking and tall, even the girl, who was the shortest, probably reached 5'11". _They're shape shifters. _Hermione was unsure of how to feel about this knowing that wolf shape shifters, an enemy of the vampires, would be able to change into their strongest form at any given time.

Once the shifters entered through the doors, they all began speaking of Hermione again. However, a couple minutes later, a new name came up. Victoria. Hermione began to listen more closely as they spoke of protecting the muggle, Bella, from this Victoria girl. A wolf named Jacob had volunteered to protect her and Hermione could practically feel the tension between Edward and the boy. Then, Alice agreed to the idea, much to Hermione's surprise, saying that Edward was needed to read her thoughts. It was then that she realized that that was his ability._ I have to strengthen my occlumency walls around him, _Hermione thought to herself. Suddenly, one of the wolves spoke, "Now, about the newborns, the killing sprees in Seattle have become more frequent and large so we're guessing that Victoria's army is growing."

_This woman is creating an army of newborn vampires. Thirsty, rapid newborn vampires who are killing innocents. _Hermione could feel the rage coming back to her and she began walking away with two goals in mind. First, convince the group that she is a normal human, and second, find out more about them. Hermione was determined and a determined Hermione is always a successful Hermione.


	6. The Revelation

Disclaimer: Same thing I say every time. I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight. I don't even know if I am supposed to say this in every stinking (I censor in the disclaimer even though I curse in the story. How logical of me) chapter.

**Chapter 5**

Hermione tucked her feet into her grey vans in an angry fashion and fixed the hood of her navy blue hoodie. She was dressed in her casual attire, the usual hoodie, light washed jeans, and sneakers. Hermione had also let her hair hang loose in their slight waves, hoping to hide her face if necessary. She wished to attract the least attention possible from her fellow peers that may fuel the Cullen's fire, but Hermione knew that wouldn't be possible. Swinging her black backpack over her right shoulder, she locked the door and exited her home, heading towards her car. It was a new day, and it was time to bring her plan into action.

Hermione walked into her chemistry classroom, confidently and surely. Luckily, today was a B-day, meaning her first class was chemistry, one that she shared with Jasper and Rosalie Cullen. As she sat down, Mr. Banner called the attendance, beginning his lesson afterwards. As he was speaking, Hermione could feel two pairs of eyes boring into the back of her head from the far, back right corner of the room. It was time to begin her plan.

Hermione began moving around in her seat, unnecessarily trying to find a comfortable position on her stool. Vampires do not fidget; therefore, she knew this action was greatly confusing the two Cullens and she hid her smug smile at this thought. Ending her movements that were beginning to annoy her, Hermione brought her left hand to her right arm and scratched her hoodie, making it seem as though the skin beneath the sleeve was itching. She felt the once skeptical eyes leave her body and whispering occurred from the back corner that the Cullens were currently seated in. The plan was actually working; Hermione just had to do one more thing to ensure that the two were no longer suspicious. Hermione blinked once, and then twice more and suddenly, she breathed in a large gulp of air and made the most boisterous sound resembling a sneeze that she could. She knew she sounded ridiculous, but she never would have expected every person in the classroom, including Mr. Banner and the Cullens, to stare at her in shock. Hermione smiled a fake, apologetic smile, attempting to seem as innocent as possible and it seemed to work as the other students went back to their work, some even laughing. The Cullens were the only ones who were still looking at Hermione, their eyes furrowed. Hermione made eye contact with the two and smiled innocently, however, she was only laughing maniacally on the inside. Oh, if only they knew.

* * *

It was lunch and Rosalie finished her story of the happenings in chemistry class, Jasper nodding alongside her. If the Cullens had been confused before, there were no words to describe how confused they were now.

"Here she comes!" Bella whispered to the group. At this, all of the Cullens turned their heads to the cafeteria doors where Hermione had just entered. Hermione was walking towards Jessica and her group, fully aware of the eyes that were on her. Just to make a show of it, she began scratching the back of her neck. As Hermione sat down, she knew that this was the time to fully go through with her plan. So, she opened the zip of her backpack and pulled out an object that the Cullens could not see as her back was turned. After putting her backpack on the floor and playing with the object in her hand, Hermione turned around and made herself fully viewable to the Cullens. In her hand was a blood pop, however, to anyone else, it would look like a normal blue lollipop. Turning her head to the Cullen's table, she lifted her brow and stuck the pop in her mouth. Bella had turned away abashedly at having been caught but the Cullens were staring back at Hermione, challenging her. However, Hermione was not one to play the submissive and she stared back, also challenging. Then suddenly she smirked, turning back to Jessica's rant about the sales at the mall.

"There's a problem," Edward said as the Cullens and Bella all turned to look at him curiously. He took their curious stares as a sign to continue and took a deep breath in. "I can't hear her." The entire group stared wide eyed at Edward who only had his head in his hands.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Rosalie smacked Emmet in the back of his head again, only this time, no one laughed.

* * *

"Hey Bells. You ready to ditch your lame boyfriend?" It was the end of the school day and Jacob had just arrived on his motorcycle, ready to pick Bella up.

Edward, rolling his eyes at Jacob's comment, grabbed Bella's hand before kissing her slowly and passionately. It was now Jacob's turn to roll his eyes, annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Edward." Alice stated exasperatedly as though she were talking to a five-year-old. "But have you forgotten that Hermione could walk out any minute and we're supposed to be hidden to follow her? Now hurry up." Bella nodded and after one more peck to Edward's cheek, put on the helmet the Jacob offered her and hopped on to the back of the motorcycle.

Smirking at Edward, Jacob took Bella's arms and wrapped them around his waist. "You better hold on tight, Bella." With that, he revved his engine, speeding out of the parking lot. The Cullens ran to hide behind the trees of the forest at a human pace and waited for Hermione to come out which was not long after they had hidden themselves. Hermione was fully aware of the Cullens' plans to follow her after school having heard their plan the day before and she planned to bore them greatly with her simplistic human activities.

Hermione climbed into her Bentley and turned the key for the ignition. Clicking her seatbelt into place, she fixed her rearview mirror towards the Volvo and red convertible behind her. Pushing the gas pedal down, Hermione smirked while eyeing the six figures in the cars behind her. Looking back to the road, Hermione pushed the gas pedal down even further, heading quickly towards the direction of Main Street.

* * *

"So Bells, what do you want to do?" Jacob asked, throwing and catching a ball repeatedly with a bored expression. Bella, who was reading her ever so worn _Wuthering Heights_ book, turned to look at Jacob from the kitchen island.

"Read," Bella replied monotonously before returning to her book. Jacob released a hefty sigh before stopping his actions with the ball.

"Come on Bella, I know you're bored. You've already read that book like what, twenty times before?" Bella rolled her eyes before marking her place in the book and standing up from her seat.

"Only fifteen for your information; but fine, I'll listen. What do you have in mind that could possibly be better than my _Wuthering Heights_?" Bella stated while smirking amusedly.

"Well there's a bunch of things we can do in Forks. It's your decision." Bella exaggeratedly rubbed her chin in a thinking manner before suddenly brightening considerably. With a wide smile she turned to look at the curious Jacob.

"Let's go to the library." Jacob groaned loudly before Bella quickly grabbed her jacket and pulled him out of the door.

* * *

"This is boring," Emmett whispered while leaning against a book case. The Cullens were currently spying on Hermione, who had been reading at the same table for about an hour, from across the library. She had not moved from her spot and was nearly done with her book.

"I hate to agree with Emmett but this _is_ incredibly boring. All of the signs are pointing to 'not vampire'. Why are we still here?" Rosalie stated with an annoyed expression. Alice was just about to reply when the six teenagers heard the scrape of a chair on wood. All of their attention snapped to the girl they had been following who was now heading towards the door, her eyes trained on the book in her hand. The Cullens quickly made to follow her, trailing her from a few feet behind. Suddenly, Hermione bumped into a very large figure adorned with a leather jacket. The Cullens froze as they stared at the scene in front of them, the stench of wolf invading their senses.

Jacob turned to glare down at the person who bumped into him. What surprised him was the fact that the strong person, who had not fallen down upon impact with him, was a woman. Suddenly, she looked up at Jacob with a glare to return and made eye contact. Jacob was lost. He was lost in the deep blue eyes that stared back at him, surprised. He was lost in the way the girl's wavy hair ran smoothly down her back, the way she bit her lip, the way she furrowed her eyebrows, and everything else visible about her. The world around Jacob was falling apart and all that was left was the beautiful girl standing before him. He yearned to touch her pale, porcelain cheeks and kiss those soft, red lips. He felt his hand reaching, slowly, towards her face. However, before he could, he was awoken from his reverie. "Jacob!" Bella said while waving a hand in front of his face. The glazed look in his eyes disappeared and Jacob took in the sight before him. His right hand was inches away from the girl's face, which carried an annoyed expression. Bella, who was just standing beside him minutes ago, was now looking at him worriedly. Jacob was just about to assure Bella that he was fine when the six Cullen teenagers appeared suddenly.

"Jacob." Edward was looking at him, shocked. He had obviously read his thoughts and understood what just happened. "Perhaps we should all head back to our house and get out of Hermione's way." The Cullens and Bella were now looking at both of them curiously. Jacob returned his gaze to Hermione, the girl standing in front of him. _Hermione. That's the most beautiful name I've ever heard in my life. Hermione_, Jacob thought to himself.

"Yes," Jacob was startled by her melodic voice but only found that it added to her enticing image, "It would be great if I could reach the door." Hermione said while eyeing Jacob and the door behind him with a raised eyebrow. Hermione was incredibly confused. One minute, the Cullens were trying, and failing, to hide themselves in an effort to spy on her and the next, they are trying to leave with Bella and the man, whom she recognized as one of the shape shifters, in tow.

"Uh-," Jacob could not seem to find the words to speak as he was still distracted by the girl in front of him. However, he was soon pulled away towards the door by Edward with the others following, leaving a confused Hermione to stare after them. Jacob began whimpering and attempted to run towards the library doors only to be stopped by Edward. Jacob glared at the obstacle in front of him.

"This is not the time! We have to tell the others and the _pack_. This changes everything." At the mention of his pack, Jacob relinquished his efforts.

"Edward, what's going on?" Bella inquired worriedly. Without answering, Edward took out his phone from his jean pocket and quickly dialed a number.

"Yes, Sam." The Cullens and Bella looked at him, surprised; however, Jacob seemed unaffected. "You and the pack are going to have to come to our house as quickly as possible. Something's happened."

* * *

The Cullens, Jacob, and Bella had all been waiting impatiently in the Cullen's living room when the pack rushed in. "What's going on?" Sam boomed in his alpha voice. At this, Jacob walked towards the middle of the living room and turned to look at the group gathered before him. With a deep breath, Jacob replied,

"I imprinted." There was silence as everyone took in the news then suddenly, the pack went ecstatic.

"Yeah, Jake!" Sean yelled as he jumped around enthusiastically, beginning the round of congratulations. The rest of the pack clapped him the back while speaking their congratulatory words. Even Leah, who was always in a foul mood, mumbled her congratulations. However, the Cullens and Bella, who knew better, had grave looks on their faces.

Sam, who had noticed this, questioned, "Is something wrong?" The smile that was on Jacob's face was replaced by a worried look and finally, he replied with a sigh,

"I imprinted on Hermione." Sam, as well as the others in the pack, all looked at Jacob with confused expressions.

"Who the hell is that?" Leah asked shamelessly. However, before Jacob could reply, Paul finally came to a realization.

"She's the new leech." He said with gritted teeth. Jacob whipped his head towards Paul and glared, growling at his fellow pack member.

"Don't call her that!" Before he could lunge, Jacob was held back by Emmett and Jasper, Jasper sending him calming waves.

Edward arose from his seat and held out his hands for peace. "By observing her today, it seems unlikely that Hermione is a vampire." With that, Edward began explaining the occurrences of the day that suggested she was human. However, at one point, he was cut off.

"What do you mean you can't read her mind?" Carlisle asked in a shocked manner.

"I mean exactly that. I can't read her mind; but it was strange. With Bella, I neither see nor hear anything. It's just black emptiness. However, with Hermione, it's as if I hit an indestructible brick wall and the more I push-," at this, Edward stopped, looking worriedly at everyone in the room, "the more it hurts me." The group stared at him as though he had two heads.

"But how?" Jasper inquired half shocked, half curious.

"I don't know, but I am planning to find out. Anyways, what are we going to do with Hermione? She may not be a vampire but if she can resist all of our abilities, she can't be normal." After hearing this, Jacob ran to Edward and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"Don't you dare hurt her! If you hurt her, I will kill you!" Jacob yelled at a surprised looking Edward. Bella grabbed Jacob's arm and attempted to weakly pull him away from her boyfriend.

"Jacob, let go!" Annoyed and completely consumed by that thought of his imprint in danger, Jacob pushed Bella off of him and onto the ground, causing a gash to appear on her forearm from contact with the coffee table. Everyone stilled, staring wide-eyed at the scene. Jacob seemed to have noticed the quietness and turned to look at what happened, letting go of Edward in the process.

Noticing Bella on the ground, Jacob quickly reached to help her only to be rejected. "Bella, I'm sorry! I don't know what happened to me." Shaking her head and getting up with the help of Edward and Alice, Bella looked to Jacob with sad eyes.

"Maybe you should go."

Jacob's eyes widened and looked to his pack for help but all of them, except for Sam, were avoiding his gaze. "Go home and cool down, Jacob," Sam stated quietly yet authoritatively. Jacob looked at everyone once more before sighing deeply and heading towards the door. However, before walking into the night, he turned around to stare at his pack.

"You may be my pack but, if I had to choose between all of you and Hermione, it will _always_ be Hermione. Don't hurt her. Don't make me have to go through with that decision." With that, Jacob ran out of the door and into the forest.


	7. The Confrontation

**A/N:** Ok, fine. There will be some Bella bashing. Please feel free to review! They always make my day. Whether it's a compliment, suggestion, or criticism, I'm all ears.

**Chapter 6**

Jacob looked at Hermione through the trees of the forest as she walked into the school. It has been two weeks since Jacob imprinted and every single minute of each day was spent looking after and protecting Hermione. He had once tried to approach her but was stopped by Sam who said to wait a while longer. The entire pack and Cullen clan were wary of Hermione and this caused tension amongst the group and Jacob. Any plans made to deal with the "arising issue", as they called it, would cease whenever Jacob entered the room. Only Jared, Sam, Quil, Emily, and Kim were slightly sympathetic as they have all experienced the effects of imprinting before. Of course Seth, being Seth, had no ill feelings towards Hermione; however, Leah was the worst of the pack, sending crude comments towards Jacob when in wolf form.

Jacob could not help but feel angry at his supposed "friends", especially Bella who was so quick to judge when she knew nothing of what he was currently feeling. She had become very distant, whether from the imprinting or the incident where she was hurt, Jacob did not know. Due to this anger, Jacob had taken to ignoring most of the Cullens and the pack whenever he could, all except for Seth of course. Most of his attention was placed on Hermione anyway. Ever since he imprinted, Jacob yearned to approach her, smell her although her scent is supposedly "non-existent", touch her porcelain looking skin, and most of all, speak to her. Every single second that passed with Jacob unable to near her, the ache in his heart grew and now it was nearly unbearable. Therefore, he had come with a specific mission today that would hopefully relieve this ache within him.

* * *

Hermione knew the shifter was watching her. It had been occurring every day and night since that unintended meeting at the library. However, she never made a move to stop him or make it known that she was aware of his presence. For some unknown reason, Hermione felt warm and protected whenever he was near. Ever since the war, she had become very unfamiliar with these feelings as she was always the one doing the protecting. Therefore, she was hesitant to so readily push this feeling away. The feeling was so nice in fact, that Hermione lowered her wards around her house whenever he came during the night just so she could feel this reassurance that she was protected. After that meeting at the library, the Cullens have been less scrutinizing and Hermione took this as a sign that they were unaware of her vampirism. However, she has only been receiving more attention from Bella in the form of glares. _I wonder what her problem is_, Hermione thought.

It was now lunch and Hermione had come to loath this time of day. Jessica always spoke of her shopping tendencies and the boys spoke, like any other average teenage boy, of girls and sports. Hermione did not know how much more of it she could take. However, she would rather sit with them than sit alone as sitting alone would lead to other people approaching her and only the heavens knew how that would turn out.

Hermione was currently sucking on a blood pop while zoning out Mike's rant about his ever disappearing six pack, focusing on a group of moronic hooligans attempting to snort their lasagna. Suddenly, Mike's voice, including everyone else's, completely disappeared, leaving the cafeteria eerily silent. Hermione looked up to see two Cullens, whom she recognized to be Edward and Alice, walking towards her table with absolute grace. Both stopped in front of Hermione and looked at each other as if hesitant to continue with what they were planning. Nonchalantly, Hermione raised an eyebrow and removed the blood pop from her mouth. "Well?"

Everyone was watching the conversation expectantly. "We would like to invite you to our home for dinner." Alice stated kindly with a smile. _Woah_. Everyone in the cafeteria gasped and began whispering with one another. Even Hermione had not expected that and she looked up, carefully masking her shock with a poker face.

With a monotone voice, Hermione replied, "And why should I go?" This erupted into even louder discussions, some not very pleasant to hear.

"What the hell. Are the Cullens high or something?"

"I'm not even allowed to breathe the same air as them yet they invite _her_ to their _house_!"

"That bitch! How dare she talk to them like that! She doesn't know how lucky she is."

Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at the conversations she had heard while quirking an eyebrow to gesture the Cullens to continue. "Well," Edward stated, "we believe that you have yet to be formally welcomed in Forks. We would like to give you that welcome." Hermione stared blankly at him, then Alice, and finally looked up to the ceiling and sucked her blood pop. Hermione knew that the Cullens had ulterior motives, but what? She did not know if she should attend this "dinner" or not. On one hand, they so obviously had ulterior motives and hiding the fact that she is a vampire would be difficult when having to eat. On the other hand, Hermione would be able to become close with the Cullens, acquaint herself with them and find out more about them and possibly the pack. Hermione turned back to Alice and Edward. All was quiet in the cafeteria and everyone, except for the vampires, fidgeted in anticipation.

"Alright." Alice smiled brightly at Hermione's response.

"Great! Come tonight, at 8. We'll be expecting you. I trust you'll find out where we live." With that, Alice skipped away with Edward following. They met with the other Cullens and Bella and together, they left the cafeteria. The closing of the door behind them was the trigger to the chatter that erupted afterwards, most likely all about the incident that had just occurred.

"Well, well," Jessica said, catching Hermione's attention. "Aren't you lucky? You just arrived and you're already making friends with the _Cullens_." Hermione could sense the bitterness in her voice and smirked. _Oh, Jessica. You have no idea._

* * *

"Why the hell would you do that!" Rosalie growled at Edward and Alice. The Cullens and Bella were currently in the parking lot, discussing the occurrences in the cafeteria.

"Rosalie, calm down. I'm sure Alice and Edward have a logical explanation for their actions." Alice smiled at her mate and went to grab his hand.

"Thank you, Jasper." Alice said while pecking said mate on the cheek. She then turned to Rosalie who still looked as though she were ready to murder someone. "We have been suspicious of Hermione for the past two weeks. What better way to ensure that she is or is not a vampire and find out more about her than have her over for dinner!" Rosalie, who was now slightly calmer than before, rolled her eyes.

"Have you forgotten something, genius? We can't eat! She'll obviously notice that and then think _we're_ suspicious. Also, I thought we already established that she is _not_ a vampire. Why do you keep trying to prove that wrong?" Edward intruded into the conversation at that moment.

"Alice and I were ready to let it go but, think about it." Edward said, attempting to persuade the group. "She has extremely pale skin, is inhumanely beautiful, and have you noticed?" Everyone in the group was now looking at Edward curiously. "There is no warmth radiating from her." It was silent as the group contemplated what he said.

Rosalie, being the first to snap out of her reverie, replied, "Ok fine, that's true, but, we've already confirmed that there are more facts that counter the idea that she is a vampire. Are you just finding an excuse to kill her? Is that it? If that's true, then let's just kill her! It's not like anyone will miss her!" The other Cullens frowned at Rosalie's statement.

"Rosalie," Jasper stated in a reprimanding tone, "you know that's wrong. Especially since Jacob had imprinted on Hermione. Killing her would mean breaking Jacob to the point where no amount of fixing could repair the damage. It would kill him, literally." Bella growled angrily at this.

"We should just kill her! She's adding so many problems to the one we're already facing with Victoria. We can just not tell Jacob. It's not like she's any good for him anyway." Edward looked disappointedly at Bella.

"Bella, we can't just kill her when we don't know for sure that she is a threat. She could be a normal human being, like you, for all we know. Besides, even if we don't tell Jacob, he would be able to feel his imprint leaving the world and know that she's dead. I'm disappointed that you actually considered the idea." Bella lowered her gaze ashamedly.

"Anyways, let's just see what happens tonight. Even if she _is_ a vampire, that doesn't necessarily mean she's a threat. Oh, maybe we can even become friends! We can be shopping buddies! I mean, where did she get her clothes? It's always hoodies and jeans. Really, she needs a fashion intervention." Alice exclaimed, slightly talking to herself. Everyone rolled their eyes at her Alice-like tendencies.

"Let's go home and prepare our plan for tonight. Nothing is to go wrong." Edward stated seriously as they all began to walk towards their respective cars.

"Wait," Bella called, catching the Cullens' attention. "It's the middle of the school day. We have to go back to class."

"_Honey_," Emmett said overdramatically while placing an arm around Bella's shoulder. "We've gone this school like, what, ten times? Who the hell even knows? We know every single lesson the teachers have planned for each day. We probably even memorized their lessons word for word! And trust me, sister, you do _not_ want to dissect that frog in bio today. It smells like ass." With that, the group retreated, laughing, to their cars and began driving to the Cullen home.

* * *

Hermione had just been approaching her parked Bentley while contemplating the plans of the Cullens when she was stopped by a large, tanned figure. Looking up, she recognized that it was the shifter who had been following her. As if to prove the fact, she began to experience that warm feeling of reassurance that only came when he was near and Hermione had to resist the urge to touch him to strengthen this feeling. "Hello." Hermione stated kindly, a total opposite of how she acted in front of the Cullens. She did not know why she acted like this, but the person in front of her made it easy to feel comfortable. "Jacob, was it?"

Jacob stood shocked while attempting to analyze every aspect of her before going to her eyes. "You know my name?" Hermione smiled slightly.

"Well, I believe it is only polite to learn the name of the man I bumped into at the library two weeks ago." Jacob's eyes widened at the memory.

"About that, I'm so sorry! I just wasn't looking where I was going and I was so distracted. I don't know what got into me that ti-," Hermione quickly ended his quick rant before Jacob suffocated.

"It's quite alright. I wasn't hurt in any way. By the way, I'm Hermione. So, what brings you here?" Jacob blushed and looked away while rubbing the nape of his neck.

"Well, I wanted to say that I was sorry about bumping into you and maybe-," Jacob paused and the blush in his cheeks deepened. "Maybe I can make it up to you tonight. I know this nice Italian restaurant in Port Angeles." The small smile that had been adorning Hermione's face instantaneously dropped. _Is he asking me on a date?_ Hermione questioned to herself. She was torn. On one hand, Jacob seemed nice and Hermione had this great urge to say yes for some reason. On the other hand, they had only just met and with everything that was happening and had happened before, Hermione wasn't sure if she was ready to date just yet. Along with this, this would be a betrayal to Ron. Also, this may just be some sort of plot to get close to her in order to find out more about her. The last thought seemed to bring Hermione back to her senses and her poker face from before returned. How could she trust this man so easily when he had been one of the shifters planning against her a few weeks ago? Where have her war instincts suddenly disappeared to?

"I'm sorry, Jacob. I am going to have to decline your offer." Hermione stated coldly. "You see, I had promised the Cullens that I would attend dinner with them this evening. Goodbye." With that, Hermione walked around the stupefied Jacob, entering her car and quickly speeding out of the parking lot.

Jacob could practically hear his heart crack as Hermione drove further and further away. _She said no_, Jacob thought to himself. At that moment, Jacob scoffed. _Of course she said no. I just met her! Why was I so hopeful?_ He could feel the sadness eating away at him, the feeling growing stronger by the second. The memory of his rejection began to play in his mind as he slowly walked over to his motorcycle but, suddenly, he stopped. _She said she was going to the Cullens'_. _The Cullens_. Gradually, Jacob could feel his sadness dissipating into unbearable anger and with that, he mounted his bike and Speeded off onto the road with only one thought in mind. _The Cullens._

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" Jacob yelled at the Cullens and Bella who were standing on the Cullens' front porch while getting off of his bike. Bella was cowering in shock behind Edward while the other Cullens looked at Jacob worriedly.

"Jacob," Carlisle began calmly, "what is the problem?" Jacob sneered while approaching the group who all moved to protect Bella.

"I'll tell you what the problem is! The problem is that you invited my _imprint_ over for 'dinner'! Really, dinner? Couldn't you think of a better excuse? Why not just say, 'hey, want to come over so we can _have _you for dinner?'" Jacob was now seething and breathing heavily while Rosalie was growling angrily at his comments.

"Jacob, please," Carlisle replied, "Come inside so we can talk civilly." This seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Jacob began to grow even redder with anger.

"Civil? _Civil_! Civil is approaching Hermione and _asking_ her if she is a vampire. Civil is _not_ inviting _my_ imprint over for 'dinner' just so you can hurt her! What has she done to you since she's been here? Huh? That's right, nothing. I will _not _let you hurt my imprint."

"Jacob, we only invited her to find out more about her. We had and have no intention of hurting your imprint, whatsoever. Trust us." Edward said warily while eyeing the trees of the woods.

"Trust _you_? You expect me to trust a bunch of _leeches_ with my imprint? This is a joke! You're vampires! All you know is killing others for blood and you expect me to trust you?" Jacob scoffed loudly.

"Jacob, stop!" Sam yelled loudly as he and the rest of the pack exited the forest. Jacob looked at his pack, wide eyed.

"Are you kidding me? You're _supporting _them?" Jacob asked incredulously. The pack was looking at him with sad eyes.

"Jacob, we're sorry, but we believe this is necessary. The Cullens won't hurt her. We all promise to you that she will return home safe. We are just trying to find out more about her. Truthfully, I know you would want to find out more about her too." Sam stated sympathetically.

Jacob looked into the eyes of every single pack member and then he looked to Bella. Having met eye to eye, Bella turned away and stayed silent. Jacob sighed loudly for everyone to hear. "She has one scratch on her body, you're all dead." With that, Jacob climbed onto his motorcycle and exited the scene, leaving a baffled group of vampires and shape shifters and one scared human.

* * *

Hermione was pacing in her living room, biting her quickly healing thumb as she had done on her first day at Forks. It was currently seven o'clock and she had yet to get ready for dinner with the Cullens. She had spent four hours contemplating how she was going to go about this meeting. How would she deal with the questions that were so obviously going to come? How would she find out more about their lives? Hermione knew she shouldn't worry so much but, she was Hermione Granger. It was in her nature.

Seeing that she only had less than an hour left to prepare, Hermione ran upstairs to her room and quickly showered. Coming out of the steaming bathroom, Hermione grabbed her wand from the bed and dried her hair, allowing it to come down in ringlets as a half up, half down hairstyle. She entered her closet and dug through the many hoodies and jeans until she finally found what she was looking for. Hermione pulled out a black lace dress that hugged her curves perfectly. The bottom of the dress ended just above her knees and the sleeves ended mid-forearm. The collar area of the dress fell slightly off of her shoulders. After having dressed and readied her hair, Hermione applied some mascara, eyeliner, and red lipstick, something she rarely does. She placed her wand in her holster and the holster inside of her right sleeve, casting a glamor to conceal the bump. Hermione quickly grabbed her black pumps and clutch, looking in the mirror after all was set and done. The woman in the mirror was gorgeous, there was no denying it. However, Hermione could still never get used to it. The perfectly still hair, the model-like body, the perfectly white and polished teeth, everything. It was all so daunting.

Hermione shook her head to remove these thoughts from her mind. She was going to face the Cullens head on, confidently. With that, Hermione put on a smirk that would put Draco Malfoy's to shame. _Let's do this._

* * *

Hermione climbed the steps leading to the Cullens' home. Before she could knock on the front door, it swung open to reveal a rather excited looking Alice. "Hermione! Eight on the dot! How punctual of you. Come in!" Hermione could do nothing else but nod politely and enter the rather large home. The house, which had been subject to much awe from other people, had no effect on Hermione as she had lived in the Hogwarts castle for six years. Inside, she noticed, was beautifully furnished and bright, and designed much more articulately than her home. Just as she was about to compliment the interior design, Carlisle and Esme entered the room, a motherly smile adorning Esme's face. Behind her, the Cullen children followed. The women of the coven, or "family", were all beautiful. Esme more attractive in a protective way, Alice in her usual enthusiastic way, and Rosalie was just plain gorgeous. However, Rosalie's beauty did not fool Hermione and she knew that Rosalie would be the one to look out for the most. The men of the family were all dashingly handsome. Carlisle, kind; Jasper, strong; Edward, mysterious; and Emmett, humorous. The sound of a breath interrupted Hermione's thoughts. Turning to the sound, Hermione realized that the origin of that breath was, in fact, Bella. Bella was pretty in a plain Jane manner. She certainly was not ugly, but her lack of confidence and annoyingness tended to overshadow her looks, in Hermione's opinion.

"Hello. I'm Esme." Esme introduced herself as she went to shake Hermione's hand. Hermione returned the smile that was being sent to her out of manners.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Hermione." At this, Carlisle joined the conversation.

"Hermione. That is an interesting name. I am Carlisle, by the way." Hermione's smile dropped and she worked quickly to conceal the pain from her expression but she knew the Cullens had noticed. Bringing the smile back to her face, Hermione replied,

"My mother was a fan of Shakespeare. A Winter's Tale, to be exact." The room was silent as no one knew what to say. Jasper, being the empath, quickly attempted to diffuse the tense situation.

"Hello. I'm Jasper." He said in a slight southern accent while grabbing Hermione's hand gently, placing a kiss on it. The introductions continued on, Rosalie giving an especially cold one, until it reached Bella.

"Bella." She said quietly while nodding her head. Hermione narrowed her eyes and analyzed her. Bella was wearing a too short dress that Alice had obviously picked out for her as she looked rather uncomfortable in it, always pulling it down. She kept picking at her fingers and could not make eye contact as Hermione had Bella under her gaze. Overall, she looked much too self-conscious. Having to be surrounded by naturally gorgeous supernatural beings when your self-confidence is so low must be difficult. Hermione almost felt bad for her. Almost.

Esme clapped her hands, the sound reverberating around the room. "How about we all head to the dining room and begin dinner?" Everyone nodded their heads and followed Esme, sitting at their respective seats. Carlisle and Esme sat at either heads of the table; Hermione sat to Carlisle's right, Edward and Bella sitting across from her. Emmet and Rosalie sat next to Hermione and Alice and Jasper sat across from them. Soon, everyone was situated and the salad and chicken was being passed around. Hermione had to stifle her laugh as the food was placed on every Cullen's plate, the disgust being so evident in their faces. However, when the food was passed to her, her laughs automatically died down as the disgusting scents hit her nostrils. Hermione could not believe she was about to do this.

After placing the food on her plate, Hermione quickly began to eat the wretched food, knowing she would have to regurgitate it later. She could feel all eyes on her as she ate the food and knew exactly what to say to complete the act. Turning to Esme, Hermione said kindly, "The food is absolutely wonderful, Mrs. Cullen." Esme looked slightly shocked before composing herself and returning the smile.

"Thank you, sweetie. There are always seconds! Please, call me Esme." Hermione nodded and went back to her food, grudgingly helping herself to more. She could see that the Cullens were also eating the food and attempting to hide their distasteful expressions.

"So, Hermione," Carlisle began, "Where did you move from? Why Forks of all places? Forks is hardly a tourist attraction."

"I had moved from London because I was in need of a change of scenery. London was such a large city so I wished to find a more reserved and woodsy area. Forks seemed to be the right place." Hermione stated while poking a piece of tomato and nibbling on it.

"Are you here with your parents?" Alice inquired. Hermione tensed and stilled all of her movements. She looked up from her plate to see that everyone was now staring at her curiously, waiting for an answer.

"No, actually." Hermione said coldly while adorning a poker face. The others widened their eyes at the sudden change in expression. "I'm here alone." The group, knowing that Hermione did not wish to continue on with the subject, stayed silent as they finished their meals. Suddenly, Bella ended the silence.

"Have you spoken to Jacob lately?" It was now the Cullens' turn to tense. They all looked to Bella with a wide array of emotions written on their faces ranging from, questioning to angry.

Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "I have actually. Quite the nice lad, when he isn't bumping into someone, might I add." Hermione stated while observing the Cullens. They all laughed at her comment awkwardly.

"Well, he seems to have taken interest in you. Let me warn you though, he might be somewhat unstable. He just kissed me a few weeks ago when he knew I was dating Edward. He was practically infatuated with me and now he's suddenly moved on to you." Bella stated, attempting to hide her smug tone that was so obvious to the rest of the table.

"Bella, this isn't the time." Edward stated, slightly angry. Hermione was annoyed at the audacity of the simple muggle who thought herself to be so great. However, it was not only Bella's words but the idea that she and Jacob had kissed that peeved her. Now, she was annoyed at the thought that she was annoyed at the thought that Bella and Jacob had kissed (**A/N:** Sorry. I know it's confusing.) How did she become so soft for a boy she had barely even talked to? Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age and the invincible one-third of the Golden Trio, was jealous, and she didn't even know why. She was suddenly brought from her thoughts once again by Bella.

"But the thing is, Jacob is also my friend. He's been going through a lot lately and I don't want him to be hurt even more by some girl who can't even get along with her parents let alone Jacob." Hermione's eyes narrowed into glares and she used all self- control to not punch Bella in the face. Hermione reached across the table for Bella and grabbed her dress's collar, bringing her close to her face.

"Don't you _ever _talk about me or my parents like that_ again_. You don't know anything about my life and I could not care less about your petty jealousy or high school love story! You do not deserve to speak of my gracious parents with that lowly mouth of yours. Understand?" Bella nodded quickly, fear evident in her eyes. Hermione shoved her back into her seat and looked down at the shocked Cullens from her standing position. "Well, it seems as though I have overstayed my welcome. Goodnight." With that, Hermione roughly grabbed her clutch and exited the home, leaving as fast as she could.


	8. The Pack

**A/N: **Since there is no school on the weekends, I will try to add new chapters every weekend if possible but that doesn't mean I won't post on weekdays! I might post on weekdays if I'm on break. Do any of you just read some of your old chapters and face palm yourself when you see all of the mistakes you made? I know I do. For the sake of the story, I'm placing Sam and Emily's house next to First Beach. I don't remember if their house was already near the beach or not but if it was, I am going to feel so stupid.

**Chapter 7**

Hermione walked into AP English with a mindset of ignoring anyone who tried to speak to her. However, upon sitting down, she was approached by a figure that she could not see as her head was down, but she already knew who it was. "Hermione," the figure called.

Hermione looked up to see Alice standing while looking down at her with eyebrows furrowed. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she looked slightly awkward. "Yes, Alice?" Hermione replied with her arms crossed. Hermione was ready to hear whatever reprimand that was to come after last night but none came. Instead, what Alice said next surprised her greatly.

"I would just like to apologize for what Bella said to you yesterday. What she did was totally out of line and we shouldn't have let it happen. So, I would like to make it up to you. Maybe we can go shopping after school in Port Angeles? I know this cute store there." Hermione stared, dumbfounded at the hopeful looking Alice. _Is this her way of befriending me and getting information_, Hermione asked herself. However, when looking into Alice's eyes, she could see the sincerity lying beneath them, making what Hermione was about to say even harder.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I would love to but I have to take care of some errands today." It was true. When she had grabbed Bella yesterday, Hermione had seen her flinch away from her cold hands. _I can't believe I was so stupid_, Hermione thought to herself, _how could I expose my freezing body temperature when that would instantaneously give me away as a vampire?_ Therefore, to fix her predicament, Hermione was planning to create a heat potion, one that allows the drinker to become warmer. However, in order to do this, she would need the calid root, one only available in the wizarding world. Seeing as this problem was in urgent need of fixing, Hermione had prepared herself to go through the wizarding port in Seattle right after school to retrieve the root. "I have to go to Seattle right after school and I probably will not return for a couple of hours."

Alice's eyes widened at the mention of Seattle. "You can't!" She exclaimed loudly, catching the attention of some other classmates. Hermione looked at her with and eyebrow raised in the air and head tilted to the side. "I mean, there have been some mysterious disappearances and murders in Seattle. It's too dangerous. I don't think you should go." _Ah, _Hermione thought, _the newborns._

"Alice, I'll be fine. I doubt I'm going to be murdered on the one day that I decide to go to Seattle. Besides, Seattle is so large and I am only one person amongst many." Alice still did not seem convinced and opened her mouth to retort again. However, the bell interrupted her sentence and Mrs. Smith entered the classroom.

"Alice Cullen!" Mrs. Smith yelled loudly, her voice reverberating in the classroom. "Sit down!" After taking one last worried glance at Hermione, Alice turned to walk back to her seat.

* * *

"What? Did you try to stop her? Alice, you know how dangerous it is for a human like Hermione in Seattle." Carlisle stated while pacing in the living room. The Cullens were all gathered to hear about Hermione's plans.

"Of course I tried to stop her, Carlisle, but she wouldn't listen. We can just have some of us follow her to ensure her safety." Alice looked around but stopped at Edward who was shaking his head.

"We can't do that. I already invited the pack over to practice fighting against the newborns. If some of us are missing or we cancel suddenly, they'll become suspicious. Also, we can't tell them about this because Jacob would find out with their ability to read each other's minds in wolf form and you know what Jacob is like when something regarding his imprint is kept from him." Alice looked at Edward, annoyed.

"Really, Edward?" Alice inquired with her arms crossed. "Of all days to invite the pack, you pick today?"

"Edward, I'm sure some of us can follow Hermione and we can give some excuse to the wolves. Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie can go." Carlisle interrupted before Edward could retort back. "Now, Alice, do you know where Hermione is?" Alice was about to answer but suddenly, she closed her mouth and remained silent, eyebrows furrowed, and finally, she groaned loudly. "Alice?" Carlisle inquired, worriedly.

"She left." Alice replied. Then, as if the weight of what she just said crashed down on her, Alice's eyes widened. "Oh no! She told me that she was going right after school. What do we do!"

"What! Are you stupid? How could you just let her leave for that newborn infested place? She could get herself killed!" Emmett exclaimed. Esme placed a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

"Now, now," Esme said in a calm manner, "Settle down. Since Hermione has no scent, it's obvious that we won't be able to find her. I think her non-existent scent might be able to keep her hidden from the newborns. Let's just hope for the best" Carlisle nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's all we can do. Now, make sure the pack does not find out about this, especially Jacob." Carlisle stated authoritatively. After the meeting, everyone dispersed into their separate rooms.

* * *

Hermione placed the purse of galleons into her purple beaded bag and tightened the cloak around herself, making sure the hood covered her face. She had nearly forgotten her cloak at home but remembered before apparating to Seattle and quickly drove home to retrieve it. Although the war had not affected areas outside of Britain that much, the entire wizarding world was still aware of it and the part that the golden trio had played. Therefore, Hermione had to ensure that her face is not seen by any wizards as it could give her position away to Dolohov. Hermione placed her wand in the holster within her sleeve as usual and was about to apparate when she felt a disturbance in her secondary shields. These shields, placed farther away from her home, allowed the intruder to pass through but warned Hermione of their presence. Hermione silently casted a transparency spell on her walls, which allowed her to see outside but did not let those outside see within, and saw Jacob quickly approaching the primary shields which would not allow him to enter. "Merlin!"

Hermione began speaking the incantations needed to take down her primary shields and end the transparency spell, not caring if Jacob heard. Then, the doorbell rang. Hermione walked at a human pace towards the front door, making sure to make her steps loud as Jacob could hear, and opened it, revealing a smiling Jacob. "Hey, Hermione. What's up?" He said enthusiastically. Hermione couldn't help but smile at his excitement.

"I was just about to go do some errands actually. So what brings you here? And, might I ask, how did you find out where I live?" Hermione had just added in that last sentence for the fun of it but now looking at Jacob's embarrassed face, she couldn't help but feel slightly bad for the lad. Hermione laughed, "I'm just kidding about the last part, Jacob, but if you came here for a reason, you're going to have to make it quick. I'm a busy girl you know."

"Oh, uh, I was just wondering-," Jacob paused while rubbing the back of his neck, the red tint visible in his cheeks. "if you would like to come to this bonfire tomorrow. My family, friends, and their families all have this bonfire occasionally on First Beach. It's great!" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and looked awkwardly at Jacob.

"I don't know, Jacob. Those kinds of things aren't really my scene and besides, we barely know each other. I don't think it's appropriate to invite me to such an intimate get together when we only met a few weeks ago." Hermione felt horrible when she saw Jacob's smile drop and wished that she could bring it back to his now solemn face.

"Well, this would be a way to get to know each other. I want to be your friend Hermione. I mean, come on, it's a Saturday tomorrow! Enjoy yourself! Besides, my dad tells these really cool legends about the "Quileute wolves." Jacob replied while placing air quotes at the last part. "They're not real, of course." He hastily added. The last part grabbed the attention of Hermione. _Legends? About the Quileute wolves? Maybe I can find out more about the shape shifters and their story_, Hermione thought to herself.

Hermione looked up at Jacob's anticipating face from her short height and hesitantly smiled. With a nod, Hermione answered, "Sure, Jacob." The grin on Jacob's face was large enough to split his face in half. It really was a miracle that it didn't.

"Great!" Jacob exclaimed while nearly jumping in place. "I'll see you tomorrow at 6:30!" Hermione gave a nod and Jacob walked away grudgingly from his imprint. After seeing and hearing Jacob leave far enough from her home, Hermione exited and shut the door behind her. Hermione swiftly recreated her primary shields and when she was done, she turned on the spot, apparating to Seattle.

* * *

"Where's Jacob?" Bella asked the pack after they transformed back into their human form and changed into their clothes.

"He went to Hermione's house. He said he had to ask her something. Seriously, he is so whipped." Embry replied while laughing. Sam looked at him disapprovingly.

"Embry," Sam said, "you know what imprinting does to you. It completely consumes the imprinter and makes them want to be with their imprint at all times. They want to do everything for them." Embry rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Face it, Sam. You're only saying that because you're whipped too." Those in the pack who have yet to imprint all laughed with him while the imprinters began to defend Sam. Through all of the bickering, the pack had not noticed the Cullens' worried faces at the mention of Jacob visiting Hermione.

"All right," Jasper interrupted while stepping forward, stopping the commotion, "let's get started. Emmett, shall we?" Both men smirked at each other, "Don't hold back."

Emmett's smirk widened. "Not in my nature." Emmett ran towards Jasper, faster than the human eye could see, but slow enough for a vampire or shape shifter eye to see. When they met contact, Jasper held Emmett back, causing the former to slide backwards. Suddenly, Emmett wrapped his arms around him and threw him across the field, making Jasper land hard on his back. Bella gasped audibly at this. However, Jasper was soon on his feet and both men ran towards each other again. Emmett aimed a punch and Jasper's face but Jasper, who was one step ahead, ducked and pushed Emmett to the ground.

Jasper smiled slyly at Emmett who was lying on the ground. "Never lose focus."

* * *

Hermione landed in an alleyway, one that was hidden from humans. She was facing a brick wall that ended the ally. Quickly, she removed her wand from its holster and placed in the correct order of bricks needed to enter Cryptic Ally. The bricks separated to reveal a long road filled with shops of all sorts, similar to Diagon Ally. However, Hermione realized that it was not as magnificent as Diagon Ally, especially without Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. She also noticed that the area was not as crowded as Diagon Ally and for that, she was grateful. Hermione entered the Cryptic Ally and briskly walked far down the road towards the apothecary she had in mind. Upon reaching it, Hermione entered and pulled off her hood. The shop smelled of herbs and spice, much too strong for Hermione's senses. "Hello." A kind, old voice belonging to the grandmother in the store stated. "How may I help you?" There was a reason Hermione had chosen this specific apothecary. She looked to the grandmother who had her eyes closed. The woman was blind.

"Calid root, please. Twenty five bundles of six each." The lady turned her head towards the sound of Hermione's voice and tilted her head.

"That's quite a lot of calid root." The grandmother replied slightly suspiciously. Nevertheless, she turned towards her shelf of herbs and began smelling the air, touching each box of herbs as she walked across. Finally, she stopped in front of the correct box labeled "Calid root" in neat cursive. The woman leaned down and sniffed vigorously before smiling. "Ah, here it is, here it is!" She pulled out twenty five bundles and while struggling to hold all of them, walked over to Hermione, placing them on a counter. "7 galleons, please!" Without uttering a word, Hermione picked out seven galleons from the change she had in her coin purse and placed them on the counter. She placed all of the calid roots into her bag which contained an undetectable extension charm before pulling the hood back over her head and exiting the shop.

Hermione began walking towards Cryptic Ally's exit, wishing to leave the place as quickly as possible. However, right before she could, Hermione's arm was grabbed by a strange woman in peculiar clothes, similar to Professor Trelawney's. "Oh, beautiful girl! Come into my shop for a quick reading, eh? Only two galleons! Find out what your future holds, just pay the coins and it will be told!" Suddenly, Hermione was dragged into the shop but she could see the woman was having quite some trouble because of her vampire strength.

"Let me go, please. I do not wish to learn of my future." Hermione had just turned to exit when a very loud, audible gasp was heard from the lady. Hermione turned around to see the women with glazed eyes, standing completely still. She was neither moving nor staring at particularly anything. Hermione cautiously began to walk towards the woman and when she was a foot away, she slowly moved her face towards the woman, inspecting the strange look in her eyes. Suddenly, the woman grabbed tightly onto Hermione's shoulders, her grip tightening as she spoke.

"Darkness is to shadow your year! Death, hurt, angst, all shall divide and conquer at a time of stress! But through the darkness will come light! Light of love! You will find love in the most unexpected of places! The light shall reign!" Hermione stared wide eyed and speechless as the woman was removed from her trance and the glaze in her eyes disappeared. The strange lady focused her vision back to Hermione who was still looking at her, shocked. "That'll be two galleons." She said with her right hand held out. Hermione awoke from her reverie and quickly handed the impatient looking woman two galleons from her pocket before running out of the shop and Cryptic Ally as fast as humanely possible.

As the bricks closed behind her, Hermione sat down on the ground, breathing heavily even though it wasn't necessary. "What the bloody hell was that?" She asked herself quietly. Briskly, she arose and began walking as far away from the brick wall as possible.

* * *

Hermione had been strolling in downtown Seattle underneath the now dark sky when a strong smell hit her nostrils, one she could never mistake for anything else. _Blood_. Hermione turned towards the smell and followed the trail that her senses led to. The scent brought Hermione to a gruesome sight. Three newborns crowded around a woman who was quivering under their ravenous eyes. A man, who Hermione guessed was the woman's husband based on their similar rings, lay dead and discarded in the middle of the abandoned street. The newborns were approaching the woman slowly, smirks adorning their faces. Hermione was surprised that they had waited this long before feeding on the woman. _Probably for the fun of the kill_, Hermione thought to herself, anger consuming her. Before they could get any closer to the unknown woman, Hermione ran to her, blocking her from the predators. The newborns, surprised by her presence, slightly flinched away from Hermione before bringing glares to their faces. "Who are _you_?" The newborn in the middle, whom Hermione guessed to be the leader, spat.

Hermione smirked before glaring back at him, "Your worst nightmare." Before any of the three could react, Hermione casted a shield to protect the woman while grabbing the throat of the newborn to her left. She bit into the vampire's neck, successfully ripping his head off. The vampire to Hermione's right bared her teeth at Hermione.

"You bitch!" The vampire ran towards Hermione, hands outstretched to grab her. Before she could, however, Hermione jumped onto the windowsill of a nearby building and beckoned at her with her finger, taunting her. This only angered the newborn even more and she ran to Hermione as fast as she could, hatred burning in her eyes.

Hermione pointed her wand at the swiftly approaching vampire. "Confringo!" In a matter of seconds, the newborn exploded into millions of pieces. Hermione looked back to the leader who was standing sessile, looking quite frightened. She began playing with the tip of her wand, all the while looking down at the newborn from the windowsill. "Hmm, I wonder who's next. You?" Hermione pointed her wand at him casually, pretending to be bored. The vampire's eyes widened and he began to run away. However, Hermione was able to catch him in time. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Pointing her wand at the newborn, Hermione lifted the vampire towards her, allowing him to levitate not too close yet not too far from her. "Now tell me, newborn, what is your name?"

The man quivered under Hermione's gaze. "Jason." He stated with a shaky voice while closing his eyes. "Please don't hurt me!" Hermione pursed her lips at Jason.

"Oh, such a coward. You're an immortal for goodness sakes! Well, at least until I say so. Now, if you do what I say, I won't hurt you." Hermione replied seriously. "Who is your leader?" Hermione peered at Jason who seemed hesitant to speak. "Well?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell us." He replied, facing Hermione this time. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Who's "he"?" Jason seemed, once again, unwilling to respond. Hermione sighed before dropping Jason to the ground and creating a ring of fire to surround him, growing larger by the second.

"Wait!" Jason screamed. "Riley! His name is Riley!" Hermione lessened the fire causing relief to take over Jason's expression. Hermione dropped down from the windowsill and began nearing Jason.

"I won't kill you." The relief shown on his face grew even further as Hermione said this. "No, I still have a use for you." Hermione ceased the fire and came towards Jason, wand pointed. "Obliviate." Jason's relieved look disappeared and was now replaced by a far-away one. "You will not remember this. You will only remember that your friends are dead. Tell Riley to end this, to end this stupid game. This is my warning. Now go." Jason turned and slowly began walking away, still dazed from the obliviation.

Hermione spun to look behind her where the unidentified muggle sat, cowering in fear away from her. Hermione's eyes softened. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." However, she noticed that the woman's eyes were not trained on her, but instead and something behind her. Turning around, she saw the man lying on the ground, dead. Turning back to the woman, Hermione said, "I'm sorry for your loss." as she began to walk closer.

"Don't come near me! You're a monster, like them." Hermione's face dropped and she did not even try to hide her pain as she did with others. Instead, she began walking towards the man and healed the crescent shaped bite marks on his neck.

Hermione picked the man up and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry I have to do this." She said quietly to the empty body. Hermione squeezed her arms tightly around the limp figure, hearing three ribs crack. She reached into her purple, beaded bag and took out a small vile filled with blue liquid. "Blood replenishing potion." Hermione gently opened the mouth of the man and poured in the vile's contents before laying the man back onto the ground. Quickly, she returned to the woman, removing the shield that was around her. Then, Hermione performed her second obliviation of the night. Pointing her wand at the woman, Hermione said weakly, "Your husband was hit by a car while the both of you were walking back home from dinner." Hermione paused, unable to continue before gathering strength again. "You saw him get hit in this hit and run and you ran to him. You laid his head on your lap and he wiped your tears away. He told you that he loved you and that he will always love you. He told you to not worry and to be happy because _he_ will die happy while looking at your beautiful face. You leaned down to kiss him one last time before he drew his last breath." While the woman was still in her trance, Hermione took this chance to pick her up and carry her towards her husband who lay in the middle of the road. Carefully placing her down and lifting her husband's head onto her lap, Hermione looked down solemnly at the couple. "I'm sorry." She turned to walk towards the decapitated head and body of the first vampire she had killed. "Incendio." The body burst into flames and began crumbling into ash. With a heavy sigh, Hermione turned on the spot, apparating to her home.

* * *

"There you are! Where have you been?" Riley yelled at the approaching Jason. The rest of the newborns stood behind Riley, watching the scene that was to unfold.

"I-I don't know." Jason replied while stuttering. He clutched his head, confusion etched in his face. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Rebecca, Thomas, they're dead." Gasps were heard from the newborns.

Walking towards Jason, Riley said, "What do you mean they're dead?" Riley was now inches away from the former vampire's face and seething. Jason stared back at him, frightened.

"I can't remember anything. I only remember that someone killed them. A girl. I can only remember her voice. She said-," Jason bit his lip. "To tell you to end this "game". She said that this was a warning." The army began whispering to one another until Riley held his hand up for silence.

He turned to look at the worried looking newborns. "We are an army of newborns! We can take down a single girl in a heartbeat. If that girl was of the Cullen clan, we needn't worry. Soon, we will _end_ them! We will end them and _finally_, we will be able to feed freely!" The crowd cheered loudly in agreement. Riley looked up to the highest balcony on the building to his right. There, a figure with fiery red hair and glowing red eyes stood, looking down at Riley. Through the commotion, the newborns were unable to hear his faint whisper to the watching vampire. "We will end them. I promise."

* * *

"Emily, Sue, Kim, do you think you can add one more plate to the table?" Jacob asked the three girls as they quickly tried to prepare enough food for the bonfire. When Jacob said this, all hubbubs ceased and the women of the room turned to look at him.

"Why? Did you invite a friend over?" Emily inquired curiously. Jacob grinned victoriously at them.

"I invited Hermione." Suddenly, the stomping of seven pairs of feet came from the stairs of Sam and Emily's home. Emerging from the staircase were, Sam, Paul, Jacob, Quil, Embry, and Seth.

"You what?" Jared yelled at Jacob. "You invited the leech!" Kim picked up a bread roll from the cooling rack and chucked it at Jared's head who promptly caught it before it made contact.

"Jared Cameron! Don't you ever say that again. You heard what the Cullens said. She ate their food _and_ enjoyed it! She is not a vampire. I see nothing wrong with inviting Jacob's _imprint_." Kim exclaimed at an ashamed looking Jared. The others laughed.

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you didn't consult this decision with us, Jacob." Sam said. At that moment, Leah casually walked in through the front door, grabbing a bread roll on the way.

"Oh, lay off him. You guys are just being stupid." Leah stated before biting into the bread in her hand. All occupants of the room gaped at the girl, surprised. Leah quirked an eyebrow. "What? I have a heart. But seeing the way you all are acting right now, it seems like you guys are the ones who don't." Leah glared at the pack. "Suck it up and stop being so paranoid." Paul had just opened his mouth to retort when the sound of tires on cement interrupted. Jacob ran to the window in excitement, just in time to see Hermione's Bentley pull into the beach parking lot. He quickly rushed out of the house and went towards the car, helping Hermione who was stepping out.

"Hey, Hermione. Glad you could make it!" Jacob said with the same ear to ear grin he wore before. "Right on time too." Hermione smiled.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Hermione replied while walking alongside Jacob on the sand.

"Come on. Let me introduce you to the group." Jacob stated while grabbing her hand. Hermione looked down at the linked hands. She had felt a spark run through her body and knew that she wasn't the only one who noticed, judging by Jacob's face. She also noticed that Jacob did not flinch when they made contact, proving that Hermione's warming potion worked. Jacob was now pulling Hermione towards a large group of people gathered by a campfire which succeeded in brightening the darkness that was consuming the sky. They had finally reached the group and all eyes were on them, some faces were not as kind as others. _Great_, Hermione thought to herself. "Everyone, this is Hermione." Jacob introduced while gesturing to Hermione. "Hermione, this is Sam, Jared, Paul, Leah, Embry, Quil, Seth, Emily, Sue, Quil's grandpa, and my dad, Billy Black." He said while they all nodded to Hermione. Hermione couldn't help but notice the scars that ran down Emily's face. She knew that they were wolf scars; the only question that remained was which of the wolves did it to her?

When the introductions reached Billy, he wheeled away from his spot around the fire and neared Hermione. Smiling kindly with a glint in his eye, he held out a hand which Hermione shook. "Hello, it's so nice to finally meet the girl that my son could not stop talking about." Billy said with a hearty laugh. Hermione looked over to Jacob who was now jokingly wrestling with Seth and the pack.

"He talks about me?" Hermione asked, surprised. Billy smiled and nodded.

"Only every single day. Now tell me, Hermione, is my son being clingy? He has a tendency of doing that."

Hermione once again looked to Jacob and without looking away, replied, "Not at all. He is kind and genuine. He acts as if we have been long-time friends and treats me well, one of the few in Forks to do so. Jacob is a great man, Mr. Black." Billy grinned warmly.

"Call me Billy." Hermione turned to the fatherly voice and smiled back, genuinely. "Well, I think it's time to begin the story-telling." With that, he began to roll towards the campfire while whistling to the boys.

When all were gathered, Hermione and Jacob sitting beside each other, Billy began. "The Quileutes have been a small tribe since the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors; shape shifters that transformed into the powerful wolf." Hermione looked to her right to see Jacob looking down at her with a look in his eyes that she could not place. She turned back to Billy who was continuing the legend. "This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe. One day, our warriors came across a creature that looked like a man but was hard like stone and cold as ice. Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire could completely destroy it. They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone," Billy paused and looked down at an object in his hands. "-and they were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. Taha's spirit wife conceived that he would lose. The third wife was no magical being, with no special powers but one: courage. The third wife sacrificed to distract the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared, but one remains. The Cold Ones. Our magic awakens when they are near and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. All of us." After the legend ended, everyone sat in silence, not daring to interrupt it.

Hermione looked at every single pack member, each individual looking to the ground. They were so young; they a_re_ so young, and yet, they are forced into lives of the supernatural. Hermione's heart could not help but break for them, teenagers who could not live their adolescence because they must protect their loved ones. The story seemed so familiar and that made Hermione hurt even more. _They're like us, Harry, Ron, and I. Luna, Ginny, George, Fred_. Hermione could create a list of thousands of names but stopped because the pain was too much. They all pretended that it was okay and that they were finally happy now that Voldemort had been vanquished, but Hermione knew the truth. Every single one of them hid their agony well, but not well enough.

Billy clapped his hands together, catching the attention of everyone around the fire. "Let's eat."

* * *

Hermione looked at the members of the pack in shock as the gorged down plates upon plates of food without break. She never thought someone could eat more than Ron but the eight of them, including Leah, had proved her wrong. Jacob nudged her side, causing Hermione to look at him. Pointing to her uneaten mashed potatoes, he asked, "Are you going to eat that?" Hermione shook her head and Jacob scooped up the entire pile with his spoon, practically inhaling it in one bite.

"So, Hermione, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" Sue Clearwater inquired while swatting Seth's hand, which was reaching for her bread roll, away from her plate.

"Well, there isn't much to tell. My life isn't quite as interesting as the Quileute legends." _What a lie_. "But I guess no one's is as shape shifters bring much more excitement than school. Do you think such supernaturalism could actually exist?" Hermione replied, trying to change the subject. Everyone else at the table looked at each other awkwardly or down at their food. "Oh, what am I saying? As if such a thing is possible. I'm sorry, I really don't think I'm in my right mind at the moment." The group laughed in a relieved manner.

"So, where are your parents, Hermione?" Billy asked. Hermione faltered but soon faked a smile. _Why is everyone so curious about my parents?_

"They're in Australia. I came alone, you see." Hermione replied before placing a piece of sausage in her mouth and reluctantly chewing.

Jacob looked curiously at Hermione. "Why did you come alone?" Hermione turned to stare back at him, silently cursing him for his inquisitiveness.

"I simply wanted to continue my education in America while my parents wanted to move to Australia. I will most likely go to Australia when I finish my education." Jacob dropped his cutlery while some others at the table gasped quietly.

Jacob was now looking at Hermione, wide eyed and afraid. "No! You can't go!" Hermione frowned. _It's Alice all over again._ Billy cleared his throat loudly and looked over at the two.

"Jacob, maybe you and Hermione should continue this conversation over by the beach." Billy said in a voice that could not be questioned. Jacob nodded and offered his hand to a confused Hermione who took it. They exited to the beach where they began walking in silence. Jacob seemed unwilling to look Hermione in the eye as he would only looked at the sand beneath his shoes. Overall, it was beginning to become a very awkward stroll.

"Jacob," Hermione said, causing said boy to look at her. "Is something wrong?" Jacob stopped walking and held Hermione's hand, holding her back.

"Please don't go." He said weakly, surprising Hermione greatly. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked Jacob in the eyes. Suddenly, her mouth moved of its own accord.

"I won't."

* * *

"I'm bored." Seth said as he hung upside down from the couch. Having put out the campfire, the elders had retired early and now, only the pack, Hermione, Emily, and Kim remained. They had been surrounding the TV for the past 20 minutes and Embry had already fallen asleep in his seat.

"I have an idea." Hermione said to the group who were all now looking at her. "Why don't we play that game? What do you Americans call it? Ah right, soccer." The pack looked at each other and shared a sly smile.

"You're on." Paul challenged. "Kim, Emily, you playing?" The said girls were quick to shake their heads. "An even split. I'll let the lady pick first; you're going to need the best player if you think you can beat me." Hermione narrowed her eyes at Paul, who was smirking back, before looking around at the pack. Jacob was grinning hopefully at her.

"Leah." Hermione stated while pointing a finger at the skeptical girl.

"Me?" Leah questioned.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Is there any other Leah in the room? Your turn Lahote." Leah was now standing beside Hermione at the opposite end of the room.

Paul did not hesitate and pointed his finger at the Alpha. "Sam." Both males high fived as though they had already won the game. This continued on until Paul had Sam and Jared on his team and Hermione, Leah and Quil. "You're dooming yourself for failure. Come on, pick Jake. It won't be a fun game otherwise."

Hermione crossed her arms and looked at Jacob who was practically whimpering. She smiled at him and Hermione could see hope etched in his features. "Seth." Jake's face fell to a point where it was hilarious to look at. Seth did a fist pump into the air and tapped Jacob's back.

"Better luck next time, buddy." Seth taunted to Jacob while laughing. Jake scowled at the younger shifter's retreating figure as he began to walk over to Paul's team.

Hermione smirked. "Why don't we make this even _more _fun. Let's turn this into a bet, shall we?"

Paul quirked an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?" Hermione began to think before an idea suddenly came to her and she smiled deviously.

"Well, my house could use some tidying up. _When_ I win, you and your team will be my house maids for a week. Perhaps I'll buy you those skimpy maid outfits." Hermione grinned at the horrified looks on their faces.

Quickly, Paul composed himself. "Deal. But when _I_ win, your team will do everything we say, when we say it."

"Get ready to lose, Lahote."

"In your dreams."

* * *

Hermione picked up four large sticks and planted them into the sand an equal distance from each other, two on each side of the "field". "We all know the game of soccer, yes? Get the ball in between the two posts and it's a goal." The two teams were standing opposite halves of the playing area, facing each other. "Soccer in the dark; even more fun." Hermione knew they didn't have to worry though as everyone was able to see in the dark. Hermione held out her hand for Paul, the other team's captain, to shake. "Game on." They smirked. Kim dropped the soccer ball between the two and the game began.

Hermione began kick-off and passed the ball to Seth who quickly intercepted it and began dribbling towards the opponent's goal which Jacob was guarding. (**A/N:** I don't really know much about soccer since I'm a nerd and I'm allergic to the outdoors so sorry if the info is inaccurate). Paul swiftly ran towards Seth and kicked the ball away from him, making his way over towards Quil at the opposite goal. Leah, who was defending, roughly pushed him away and kicked the ball over to Hermione who was a few feet away from the other team's goal. She briskly chest-trapped the ball and after seeing an opening to the left of Jacob, kicked the soccer ball into the goal. "Yeah, Hermione!" Seth yelled as he ran towards her, high-fiving on the way back to their half of the field. As Hermione's team celebrated the first goal, Paul's stood speechless while staring at said girl as if she had two heads.

"You guys are in for one hell of a ride." Hermione said while smirking.

* * *

"Wow, 7-to-1. I never knew it was possible to lose so badly." Hermione taunted at Paul's scowling team as they entered Sam's house. "I'm going to have to know your guys' dress sizes." Seth, Leah, and Quil laughed loudly at her comment.

"Whatever." Paul replied bitterly. "When do we start the stupid maid service?" The group all crashed onto the available furniture and floor.

Hermione laughed, surprised that she was able to laugh and smile so genuinely today. "Graduation is next week so I'm free from then on. Come the week after the next. Oh, and bring cleaning supplies." Hermione caught a glance at the clock and saw that it was already 2:45 in the morning. "Oh bollocks!" The pack looked at her, amused.

"Bollocks?" Jared asked, attempting to stifle a laugh.

Hermione glared. "It's a British thing. Anyways, I have to go now. Actually, I should already be asleep by now so I must go." Hermione arose from the couch and went to leave after saying her goodbyes. "Oh, and close Embry's mouth, he'll catch flies." She said while staring at the now drooling boy.

"Wait, Hermione! Let me walk you to your car." Jacob called as he walked towards her. Seth, Jared, and Paul began catcalling at the pair as Jacob rolled his eyes and quickly shut the door. "You know, they've all taken a liking to you, even Leah and she doesn't like anything." Jacob said while grinning as the two walked towards the parked Bentley.

Hermione smiled back. "Well, they've grown on me as well. It's great that you all are such great friends."

Jacob nodded. "So, what about us? Are _we _friends now?" They had now reached the car and Hermione had the driver's door open, reluctant to enter and leave.

Hermione stuck out her right hand and Jacob shook it. "Friends." With that, she entered the car and revved the engine before backing out of the parking lot and making her way down the dark road. She looked in her rearview to see Jacob watching her car leave. "Friends. Just friends," but Hermione had a hard time believing her own words.


	9. A Surprise Visit

**A/N:** It's been way too long and I'm sorry! Hopefully this update makes up for it? By the way, try to catch my_Mean Girls _reference.

**Chapter 8**

"Hermione!" Hermione spun around to see the owner of the shrill voice right behind her. Alice stood, beaming genuinely. Although Alice was originally quite the happy person, Hermione could tell that this smile showed true happiness. The former girl grabbed Hermione's hand and began jumping in place. "Come on, Hermione! We're graduating today! Aren't you happy?" The entire senior class was currently standing outside in their yellow robes, anxiously waiting to be called in for the graduation ceremony.

Hermione smiled amusedly. "Sure Alice." Alice beamed once again.

"Anyways, we're having a party tonight. You should come! No, wait, scratch that. You _will _come." Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Alice interrupted. "No, there is no room for discussion. We'll go dress shopping after school."

Hermione shook her head and sighed. "Alice, I-," Suddenly, the doors to the gymnasium opened and the students began filing in, leaving Hermione unable to object.

* * *

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or in my case… princess. When we were ten, they asked again and we answered - rock star, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. Well, how 'bout this: who the hell knows?

This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions; it's time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love - a lot. Major in philosophy 'cause there's no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent.

So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be… we won't have to guess. We'll know." The crowd erupted into applause as Jessica stepped off of the stage. Hermione smiled as the students all threw their caps into the air, cheering all the while. Although she probably shouldn't, she sometimes wishes she was not a witch. She wished to be naïve again, enough to achieve all of those things in Jessica's speech. She wanted to take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Live a normal enough life in order to fall in love – a lot. Hermione wanted to major in philosophy, business, anything. She wanted to _be_ anything, _anyone_ other than herself sometimes. However, at the end of the day, Hermione will always be the war heroine and sometimes, that's perfectly okay.

* * *

"Get in Hermione; we're going shopping." Alice was currently driving Rosalie's red convertible, said girl looking particularly annoyed in the passenger seat. Hermione was contemplating her choices at the moment. _Maybe I should make a run for it, _Hermione thought. She scanned her surroundings to look for the best route. While sighing, Rosalie exited the car and dragged Hermione towards it. Opening the back door, she pushed Hermione in and crawled in after her.

"Let's go."

Alice nodded before stepping on the gas pedal with full force. In obedience, the car lurched forward. Although the speed felt like nothing to the vampires, Hermione pretended to have recovered from her shock to keep up her act as a human. Soon enough, the group passed a sign on the highway signaling their nearing to Port Angeles.

* * *

Hermione looked around with caution, her war instincts already kicking in. Having never been to Port Angeles before, she made sure to memorize every street, curve, and crevice that she came in contact with. The three were currently approaching an expensive looking store with bright light emitting from its windows. "Um, is it really necessary to go to such an extravagant store when we're only shopping for a casual party?" Alice turned to look at Hermione while still walking.

"Oh Hermione, just because it's casual doesn't mean we can't look casually fabulous." Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at her typical Alice-like sentence.

Upon entering the shop, an elegant woman with a thick French accent began bombarding both Alice and Rosalie with kisses on each cheek. "Oh Alice, Rosalie, how lovely it is to see you again! What brings you here?"

"Aim_ée, we've missed you." Rosalie replied while smiling. _

"We've come with our friend Hermione to find her a casual dress." Alice said, gesturing to Hermione at her right. Rosalie laughed when she called Hermione their friend but quieted under Alice's glare. Almost automatically, the French woman whipped her head towards Hermione. Without introducing herself, she spun on her heel and began pointing at dresses around her, shouting orders at her assistants in French. After only five minutes of dress collecting, all of the dresses were piled upon Hermione and she was pushed into a dressing room.

"Try them on, sweetie." Aimée stated from the other side of the dressing room door. Hermione sighed. This is going to be a long day.

* * *

"Hermione, that one's perfect! We have to buy this one!" From hearing Alice's words, Hermione was about to drop to her knees and kiss the ground. They had been at the shop for about four hours while trying on dresses and now only had an hour left until the party. If she weren't a vampire, Hermione would've fallen asleep right on the dressing room floor. However, Hermione had to admit that this dress really was the best out of all that she had tried on. The top of the dress was a sheer white blouse which led to a blue high-low skirt of lace when reaching the waist. Hermione was given gold heels and accessories to match.

"Aimée, you are amazing! Thank you so much. How much will this be?" Aimée crossed her arms and glared at Alice jokingly.

"Now, now, what type of friend would I be if I made you pay? No charge!" Aimée replied while arranging Hermione's hair into a sleek half up-half down hairstyle. "Anyways, Hermione must look pretty for this guy she likes."

Hermione spun around quickly and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I think you're mistaken. I don't like-,"

"No, no, no, Aimée is never mistaken. You like a boy, my friend. I can see it in your eyes. Good luck." After winking conspicuously at Hermione, she left with her assistants in tow leaving two very curious Cullens and an embarrassed Hermione.

* * *

Hermione walked into the Cullen home, not knowing what to do. Surrounding her were her classmates partying to no end. Alice and Rosalie have already parted, going their own ways and leaving Hermione alone. Suddenly, a warm arm wrapped itself around her shoulders. Looking to her left, she saw Mike smiling down at her with a drink in hand. "Hey Hermione, you made it!" Hermione smiled awkwardly at him while nodding. "You know, I always thought the Cullens would have a weird ass house, probably because _they're _weird too, you know?" Hermione had not been paying attention and was currently looking out the window, longing to leave. However, Mike slid his arm, which was around her shoulders, around her waist, catching her attention. Mike pulled her in, close enough for Hermione to smell his breath which smelled suspiciously of alcohol. "Let's dance." He attempted to pull her with him towards the DJ but before he could, Hermione pulled away.

"Um, I have to go to the bathroom." With that, Hermione quickly retreated to a quiet hallway with little people. She briskly entered the nearest room and shut the door, locking it afterwards. Hermione turned away from the door and was met with a beautiful sight. In front of her were shelves upon shelves of books covering all four walls except for the door and a window opposite it. In the middle of the room was a neatly organized desk, leading Hermione to believe that this was a study of some sort. She smiled and sniffed the air. The room smelled greatly of ink and paper, a scent she could never have enough of. Bringing her index finger to a random shelf, she began walking, trailing her finger across the books' binds. There were first editions, rare books, never before seen ones; there seemed to be no end. Suddenly, Hermione stopped, her index finger left on one book which was now the focus of her attention. She cautiously pulled it out and analyzed its cover. This book had felt different, stranger than the others. Upon opening it, Hermione was met with a cloud of dust and a name written in fine script. _Aro._ Hermione's eyes widened in shock. She knew exactly who Aro was and knew of his role as leader of the Volturi. Curious to see the book's contents, Hermione quickly opened it to a random page. The book was, in fact, a journal.

_"Her power is amazing; a pain so strong and the beholder so bold that no victim can withstand their wrath. Jane will be a staple in our guard, it is already so obvious. Her brother is of great use as well with the power to cut off anyone's senses. Together, they will make the Volturi even more feared and powerful than ever before. Although their powers remain only illusory, it can and will defeat anyone."_ Hermione shut the book and quickly placed it back in its original spot. She knew of Aro, Marcus, and Caius of the Volturi but the others were still unknown to her. Having read about two vampires in the Volturi with such great power, Hermione could not help but worry. She worried that, if confronted by them, she will suffer under their powers. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she walked to the door and left the room, wishing to get as far as possible from the journal.

Hermione returned to the party which had yet to die down. Suddenly, the scent of wolf invaded her senses. Looking behind her, she saw Jacob smiling, Jared and Quil flanking his left and right side. He began walking towards her.

"Hey, Hermione."

"Hey, Jacob." Hermione replied while smiling and then turned to the two boys behind him. "Hey Jared, Quil." The two nodded in reply and then went their own way, whistling awkwardly and pretending to be busy. Hermione quirked an eyebrow at Jacob. "What's up with them?"

Jacob scratched his neck nervously and looked at Hermione before reaching into his pocket and retrieving something she was unable to see. He took Hermione's hand and placed his hand within hers. She felt a small, woodsy-smelling object hit her hand, followed by a chain. When taking away his hands, Hermione could see that Jacob had left a bracelet in hers. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the object on the chain was a wooden carving of a wolf. Hermione laughed and looked to a happy looking Jacob. "I, uh, I made this for you; graduation present. I hope you like it."

Hermione smiled warmly and nodded. "It's wonderful. Thank you, Jacob." Suddenly, as if it were clockwork, a slow song began playing throughout the house. Couples around the two began intertwining, swaying to the beat of the music. Hermione and Jacob looked at each other awkwardly before bursting into quiet laughter. Jacob held out his hand gentlemanly. "Shall we?" Hermione took his hand and together, they led themselves to the main room where most people were dancing. Jacob placed his hands on Hermione's waist and Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck. Both began to sway at the song's rhythm in the typical, middle-school "I-don't-know-how-to-dance" fashion, causing Hermione to smile amusedly. She laid her head calmly into Jacob's chest, surprising him greatly before he eased into the stance and moved in closer. After dancing for a while, Jacob leaned into Hermione's ear. Hermione had her eyes closed and felt the tickle that came with Jacob's breath. "Hermione." He said in his deep voice.

"Hm?" She replied with her eyes still closed, sighing in content. There was a pause before Jacob spoke again, as if he was contemplating whether he should speak or not.

"Go on a date with me."

Hermione sighed again while smiling. She was so calm in that moment that she had barely registered what Jacob had said. "Yes." Jacob stilled, ruining the swaying rhythm they had been maintaining. Hermione, confused, looked up at Jacob and was surprised to see a face-splitting grin on his face. "Jacob, are you alright?" Suddenly, his arms wrapped themselves around her and soon enough, Jacob was lifting her up into the air. Hermione frowned. "Jacob?" Jacob froze, noticing her frown, before putting her down. However, the ear-to-ear grin was still there.

"You said yes." Jacob practically jumped in place before a very confused Hermione. "You said yes!" Once again, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Hermione tightly, hugging her. If she had the necessity to breathe, Hermione was sure she would be unconscious at the moment. Letting her go, Jacob looked at her with so much warmth. "I'll pick you up at 7, this Friday. I know this restaurant in Port Angeles. You'll love it!" Hermione looked at Jacob's smiling face in shock. _Did he ask me out?_ Although she was skeptical about dating Jacob, Hermione could not let herself reject Jacob, and this frightened her greatly. Suddenly, Jacob's smile disappeared from his face and a grim look now replaced it. "I have to go." Hermione turned to see Jacob walking in the direction where Alice and Bella were conversing on the staircase. Soon, Jacob, Quil, and Jared were now a part of the group. Hermione used her vampire hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Alice, what'd you see?" Bella inquired to a dazed looking Alice. Upon observing Alice, Hermione could tell that she had just awoken from one of her visions.

"The decisions been made." Alice replied worriedly. The group and Hermione all frowned.

"What's going on?" Jacob interrupted. Without answering his question, Bella continued.

"They're not going to Seattle." She whispered.

Alice shook her head before looking away. A second later, she looked at the group below her seriously. "No. They're coming here." Hermione frowned once again. _What is happening?_

* * *

"They'll be here in three weeks." Alice said to the group gathered within Carlisle's study. The wolves, Cullens, and Bella were all oblivious to Hermione listening to their interaction from outside of the door.

"This could turn into a blood bath." Carlisle told everyone. This made Hermione frown even more. She did not know what the cause to all this commotion was, but she did know that if there was to be a "blood bath", she was going to find out what it was.

"I didn't see anyone I recognized." Alice replied while shaking her head. She then paused before continuing. "Maybe one.

Edward frowned. "I know his face. He's a local. Riley Biers." Hermione nearly growled, almost giving herself away but she caught herself in time. She thought she had taught him a lesson when she killed those two newborns. Apparently, he had not taken the warning seriously. "He didn't start this. Victoria is toying with him. She's using him to get to us, and she's coming soon." Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. There was that name again: Victoria.

Silence reigned in the room before Alice interrupted with shocking news. "They were passing around Bella's scent; her red blouse."

Jasper placed an arm around Alice's shoulder. "With the wolves, we have a slight advantage. The newborns won't even know they exist. However, that still doesn't mean we are guaranteed an easy win. We must train, harder than before." Hermione heard the swish of their clothes as everyone nodded in agreement and knew the conversation was over. She quickly left for her home, not wanting to get caught.

* * *

Hermione sat at the piano, multiple thoughts running through her head. She did not know what to do with the new occurrence which was quite surprising as she always knew what to do. She knew that simply asking the Cullens or even the wolves was simply out of the question. It also did not help that this subject was not one she could research. Hermione knew that, without any other choice, the only thing left for her to do is have Jacob trust her enough to tell her. Hermione sighed. "That is easier said than done."

* * *

"Rise and shine!" Hermione exclaimed while ripping open the curtains of Jacob's bedroom. The pack snickered as the half-naked Jacob lay in his too-small bed, squinting at the sun shining upon his face.

"What?" He said groggily, pulling the covers up to his face. The pack was currently gathered in Jacob's bedroom, waiting for him to get up.

Hermione smirked before pulling the blanket away from him and leaving him in only boxer shorts. She tried not to pay much attention to his shirtless self and cleared her throat. "Wake up! You've got some cleaning to do." Jacob's eyes widened and he shot up upon realizing that Hermione was in the room. He looked around to see the entire pack laughing at the sight of him. Paul, Sam, and Jared all had mops, brooms, and cleaning supplies in hand.

"Hermione!" He yelled while trying and failing to cover himself up. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh calm down. I've already seen more than needed. Now hurry up and shower." Jacob blushed and quickly nodded before running into the bathroom.

Hermione laughed before sighing. "That idiot."

* * *

"I welcome you to my humble abode." Hermione said before mock bowing. Everyone was currently standing in the living room, the pack gaping at the sight of her home. Hermione had changed her home's wards to allow the pack to enter, finding them trustworthy enough.

"Humble my ass." Paul whispered not so quietly. Seth nodded in agreement.

"Yeah Hermione! Your house is huge!" He stated with the excitement of a child holding their first toy. "Hey, what do you say about becoming roomies, eh?" Jacob growled causing Seth to lift his hands up in surrender. "On second thought, never mind."

"Um, Hermione. You don't actually expect us to clean your _entire_ house, do you?" Sam asked with an eyebrow raised.

It was now Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Of course I do. You lost the bet so now you must pay the consequences. Oh by the way, the pool needs cleaning too." Silence entered the room and everyone stood still. Hermione crossed her arms. "Well, chop, chop. This house won't clean itself." Jacob, Sam, Jared, and Paul all dispersed to separate areas of the home with their respective cleaning supplies. Smiling, she turned to the group who did not need to clean. "You all can just do whatever while I cook."

Leah frowned. "I'll help you Hermione. You shouldn't cook for so many people alone."

Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly rattled her mind for an excuse. "No, no, no. You're the guest. I can't have you cook. Anyways, I can only cook when I am alone. It's a strange thing." With that, she pushed a confused Leah to the couch where the other boys were watching TV and rushed to the kitchen. After checking that there was no one approaching, Hermione retrieved her wand from her sleeve and casted a charm upon the kitchen appliances. In seconds, they began bustling about the kitchen. The pans and pot laid themselves on the stove, beginning to cook multiple dishes at once. The oven heated itself, random objects flying in. The refrigerator was opening and closing repeatedly as if it were a replaying record. Hermione knew shifters ate more than a normal human would so she purposely had the appliances make more food than one would think they need. Seeing the successful work occurring without her, Hermione exited the kitchen.

Upon entering the living room, she was met with quite a sight. The entire pack was outside cannon balling, wrestling, diving, and just about everything else you can do within a swimming pool. Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed at the fact that everyone, except Leah, was shirtless. _Do they even own more than two pairs of shirts? _Hermione thought to herself. She exited through the back door and neared the pool. The pack, being shape shifters, heard Hermione approaching and stopped all motion. She stood with arms crossed while staring down at the group. "Really? I'm gone for two minutes and this happens?" The pack simultaneously grinned up at her. Hermione couldn't help but feel like their mother at that moment. Suddenly, Jacob lifted himself out of the pool and brought himself to Hermione's side. Hermione fought the urge to habitually gulp. Shirtless Jacob was one thing, but shirtless _and_ wet Jacob was another. Hermione was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't realize Jacob's arm moving towards her and soon enough, she was tumbling into the water. With the splash that came with her hitting the water, the pack erupted into cheers. Hermione, who had no need to breathe as a vampire, decided to play her own prank as well. Instead of emerging immediately from the water as one would, she stayed below and closed her eyes. Hermione could hear the commotion from above the water.

"What the heck. Why isn't she coming up?" Seth's prepubescent voice sounded. Hermione heard a splash to her right and felt herself rocking, indicating that a rather large figure had entered the water. An arm wrapped itself around her waist and Hermione could feel that they were rising. Suddenly, the warm summer's air surrounded itself her.

"Hermione! Hermione, can you hear me?" Jacob yelled frantically at Hermione who was now placed on the ground. Hermione made sure not to breathe. "She's not breathing!" There was shuffling and murmurs beside her.

"What do we do?" Seth asked worriedly. He looked to Sam, the Alpha of the pack. Sam, in all seriousness, looked at Jacob.

"Perform CPR on her." Hermione was torn between bursting into laughter and shrieking like a little girl. She heard Jacob gulp beside her.

"O-okay." Jacob gently plugged Hermione's nose and began nearing her face. If it were capable, her heart would have beaten right out of her chest. She was also glad that she was incapable of blushing.

When there was about half of an inch left between them, Jacob hesitated. Hermione took this moment to end her façade. She opened her eyes to see that Jacob's were closed and for some reason, this made her nervous. Before this could go any further, however, she spoke. "Boo." Jacob's eyes widened and he quickly shuffled away from Hermione, falling on his butt in the process. Hermione smirked. "That's what you get."

"B-but, you weren't breathing." Jacob stuttered, still shocked.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm good at holding my breath." She looked around to see everyone gaping, similar to how they were when first seeing her house. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh quit looking at me like I have two heads." Suddenly, Jacob leaned forward and brought Hermione into a tight hug.

"Don't ever do that to me again." Hermione went stiff in his arms, unsure if she should hug back or not.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Well, I should check on the food." With that, she arose from her sitting position, making Jacob let go of her in the process. "Don't follow me in." She said, noticing that the group had made a move to follow her. "I can never cook with all of you breathing down my neck." Hermione walked towards the house's door and entered.

"Wait, Hermione! You're dripping into the house!" Jared exclaimed. Hermione looked down to see a puddle of water forming at her shoes. Hermione turned and smirked at them.

"It's all right. You're my maids. You can just clean it tomorrow." Hermione laughed as the "maids" groaned and the others snickered. Hermione entered the dining room to find a feast on the table. Hermione was surprised and knowing that she has seen dinner at Hogwarts before, this was quite the feat. The dining table was able to seat twelve people yet the food was practically overflowing. Hermione was sure that every color known to man was on the table at the moment. Snapping out of her reverie, she hurried to the pack before the food became cold. "Food's ready!" She returned to the dining room and not a moment later, the stomping of feet could be heard. Upon entering the dining room, the pack's eyes widened and practically glazed over. Leah, being the only sensible one of the group, rolled her eyes and sat down on the nearest chair. The scraping of her chair seemed to be the trigger and the boys fought each other for their seats but left the one next to Hermione, who was at the center, for Jacob. Once everyone was seated, they looked to the witch. She raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you going to eat?" They all grinned and began digging into their food. Hermione still could not fathom the fact that so much could enter their stomachs so quickly.

"Hermione." Seth called, causing the attention to land on him. "Please marry me." Everyone, except for Jacob, burst into laughter. The others just left Jacob to growl to himself.

"In your dreams." Hermione replied while grinning.

* * *

"I think it's time for us to go." Sam said authoritatively. The pack groaned.

"Aw, come on Sam. Stop being such a joy kill." Jared replied while throwing a carrot stick at Quil's face. The others nodded in agreement.

Sam looked down at them sternly. "We have to go. We scheduled to meet with the Cullens." All shenanigans stopped at that moment and the pack members became serious. Simultaneously, they arose from their chairs before turning to Hermione.

"Thanks for the dinner. It was great." Jacob said before hugging Hermione who had also risen. He then leaned in towards Hermione's ear as he had done at the night of the party. "Friday, 7o'clock; don't forget." Hermione looked up to Jacob and smiled while nodding. The pack looked on at this interaction confusedly. Hermione knew that they had heard what Jacob said and they were probably holding in their questions. Nonetheless, they restrained from asking and left peacefully.

Hermione shut the door behind Jacob and walked back to the dining room. The place looked atrocious. Napkins were laying on the ground, multiple plates were piled above one another, and some food found its way to the carpet. Hermione rolled her eyes before taking out her wand and casting a simple cleaning spell. She quickly dried the water from the pool that had puddled on the floor as well. Hermione was just about to cast an odor removing charm to remove the scent of food when a large crackling sound, similar to a fire, erupted in the living room. Hermione stilled her movements and her eyes widened. Only one thing could possibly make such a sound. _The Floo. Did Dolohov find me?_ Hermione quietly tiptoed towards the living room, making sure to make no sound. When reaching the corner, Hermione whipped around it at vampire speed and quickly cast body binding spells on the intruder. "Bloody hell." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. That voice sounded much too familiar. She looked at the victims hit by her spells and her eyes widened.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione cried as she rushed to help them from their binds. Upon further inspection, Hermione realized that Ginny, Luna, and Draco were also in the room, all still bound from her attack. Hermione frowned before asking, "What the bloody hell are you all doing here?"

Ginny coughed, catching Hermione's attention. She grinned at Hermione and replied. "Surprise!"

* * *

**A/N: **Did you find the _Mean Girls_ reference? If so, then I love you. If not, then… IT'S OK. YOU'RE STILL COOL.


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